Chosen Path
by Xybur7
Summary: Lucario: reborn after his great sacrifice. Link: on his first grand adventure. With many friends, they defeated the evil Tabuu and saved the world. But now, fate has something else in store. Will they follow destiny's path? Or choose their own?
1. Prologue 1: A New Beginning

_**(Hello, everyone. This is Xybur7. I'm new to and this is my first ever attempt at a fanfiction so please don't set your expectations too high #^,^#. Thank you for taking the time to read my story.**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own ANYTHING but the plot of this story. Any and all characters/places/objects belong to their respective owners.)**_

Prologue 1: A New Beginning

Light shone everywhere. There was nothing but a shining vast and empty void. Nothing existed there but a blue figure, lying in the middle of nothingness. Slowly, details began to take shape on the spirit-like blur. It had a white torso with a round, white spike above where its heart should be. Short, pointed blue ears twitched a bit and the ghost moved its bent blue tail. There were black markings over its jackal-like face, like a ribbon mask over its eyes and snout. Its blue paws, with black glove-like markings, flexed to reveal two more thorns on the back of each paw. Slowly, the jackal-like creature opened its deep orange eyes and tried to sit up. It glanced from side to side as if looking for something. The spirit figure stood up on its two black hind legs and looked around quickly, emitting a sense of worry and panic.

"Sir- Sir Aaron?" The creature called in a somewhat deep male voice. The ghostly blue figure turned around, looking again.

"Sir Aaron!" He cried with despair. No one answered him. No one was there in the light. The blue spirit closed its eyes and concentrated. Four ribbon-like lumps from the back of his head rose as the light went dark. In the blue jackal creature's mind, the world was black. He could not sense anyone out there. The ghost opened his eyes again and the blinding light returned.

"I'm… all alone…" The blue jackal ghost looked down at himself and shook his head. "Where am I? What is this?" He looked in all directions again but to no avail. Nothing had changed. He was alone. Slowly, the ghost sat down cross-legged and took a meditation pose, attempting to swallow the enormous feeling of loneliness.

After a long, long time of slow, calming breaths, the light got brighter in one area. The blue jackal spirit jumped up and rushed toward the bright light, shielding his eyes as he ran. He made it to the spot but the light died away back to its normal brightness. The jackal spirit looked at the thing the light shone upon. It was another spirit, a goldish-green blur. The blurry new ghost grunted with a young man's voice. The blue jackal bent beside him.

"Are you alright?" He asked the gold ghost. The new figure pushed himself up with his arms and stood quickly. It was much taller than the standing jackal. The new spirit also did a look-around before finally speaking.

"So, I'm back here again…" He said somberly.

"Excuse me, are you okay?" The blue jackal repeated its question. The gold-green ghost finally looked at the blue jackal and gave a blurry smile on his faded face.

"As good as I'll ever be dead. I just wish I could rest in peace."

"What?" The jackal spirit jerked back at the comment. "What do you mean 'rest in peace'? What is this place? I don't understand…"

"This is where souls go to pass on or be reborn." Then the new ghost tilted his head. "When- how long have you been here?"

"I've lost track. I- before… I was…I remember-" Flashes of scenes shot through the jackal's mind: two armies of strange creatures battling, a man in blue throwing a scepter, a similar boy with a red hat and a yellow mouse-like creature, a pink cat-like creature with large feet floating in a bubble, a gigantic stone tree, light blue crystals. The blue jackal put one paw to his head as so many memories overcame him. The gold ghost leaned forward with worry but the jackal put up his other paw and shook it side to side.

"I'm fine," the jackal huffed out. The gold ghost bent a little to be face to face with the black-masked jackal.

"How did you die?"

"I- I-" The jackal closed his eyes again to try to sort out the rapid flashbacks. "To save my friends… I did what I was there for, my duty, to save someone's life at the expense of my own. And I was the only one who could do it." He looked at his paws sadly. The jackal tensed a bit and a small, faint blue fire appeared in his palms. "I gave my aura… I gave my life…"

The gold ghost cursed and half-turned away. The jackal looked up abruptly.

"Yeah, right… _Duty_… Did you ever get to decide how **you** wanted to live? Or did the deities pull the strings of so-called _destiny_?" The gold-green ghost spat out the word 'destiny' with much disdain. "I understand completely now. You were only reserved, then used when the _'world needed you'_ and afterward thrown away like a broken tool. I hate it… I hate that!" The jackal took a tentative step back as the gold-green spirit began a raging rant.

"'_They need you!' We need you!' 'The world needs you!' _That's all I've ever heard! Why is my life, my path chosen for me? Why am I chosen? Those despicable deities could choose anyone. I'm only a child… I'm **always** a child! Never! Never do I get a future. I'm always killed off then reborn over and over again. An endless cycle. _Fate_ always kills me off. Getting lost in the woods, drowning, monster wolf attack, falling… And I never remember it unless I'm in here. Dead. Then they bring me back for the same purpose over and over and over…" The spirit slowed. "I wish I could **live**. Just once, with no strings attached." Then the gold ghost plopped down on the glowing ground, his anger and stress released, and started to gain more detail, slowly turning a shade of green. He glanced up at the blue jackal.

"Have you been here alone all this time?" he enquired.

"I, at least, I thought I was with a close friend for a little while. But now he's gone," the jackal sullenly answered.

"Perhaps he's moved on. Was he human?"

"Yes."

"Did he die before you or after?"

"Much before me. Many years."

"Your friend's definitely been reborn already. Human souls usually are reborn and don't take too long to be either. I just go faster because someone reaches their hand in and pulls me out. No offense, but you're definitely not human. I don't know how long it takes for souls like you to be reborn or if they even can."

The jackal's orange eyes widened. "Do you mean… I'll be trapped here forever?" Despair began to pervade his voice again.

Suddenly, light erupted from above and, like a heavenly hand, reached to the bottom, grasped the gold-green ghost, and began lifting him upward. The ghost made a short, cynical laugh.

"Time to go already, huh?" At this point, he sounded exhausted.

"Wait! But-" The blue jackal cried, panicked. '_I'll be alone again!' _he thought. The ghost's hand briskly extended in front of the jackal's snout.

"Come on!" the ghost shouted. The jackal grabbed onto the helping hand and became engulfed with the same shining light. Astonished and grateful, he looked the ghost eye to blurry eye.

"You deserve a second chance." Once again, the ghost gave an unfocused smile. The light got brighter and brighter until the blue jackal could barely see the ghost. A low hum sounded overhead and slowly got louder.

"You're helping me and I don't know your name!" the jackal gasped.

The ghost laughed again. "Neither do I know yours. I won't remember anyway."

"You can try."

"Heh, true enough. I can try."

The blue jackal tried to open his eyes one last time to catch a glimpse of his new friend. A deep red flame sparked in his feral, orange eyes as his blue-violet aura encircled his paws.

"I am Lucario!" He declared with confidence and pride. Not even the heavenly light could obscure his violet fire nor could it completely erase the last blurry smile of the young, green ghost.

"Honored to meet you!" The ghost got out as the light got blindingly bright and the hum turned deafening.

"My name is-"

/

A cool breeze flowed past Lucario's face as he gasped awake. Light blue sparks floated around him as he blinked a couple of times to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Five blurry, shocked figures started coming into focus as the blue sparks faded. One of them, light blue on the bottom, dark pink on top, bent down and offer its hand.

"Hey, uh, are you okay?" it asked in a teenage boy voice. A yellow figure leaped onto his shoulder.

"What **happened**? That's was... just… Whoa," the yellow blur squeaked in a female voice.

"I'm fine." Lucario shook his head and blinked his eyes, still recovering from his own shock. He reached for the extended hand and looked up. "Thank you-"

A young boy with worried brown eyes stared questioningly at Lucario. He had spiked dark brown hair stuffed under a red-pink cap and a tough, yet childish face. The small, yellow creature was mouse-like, with long, pointed ears with black tips, a little black nose and big dark brown (almost black) eyes. Her cheeks had red circles on them that sparked with electricity as her lightning bolt shaped tail wagged back and forth. A memory surfaced in Lucario's eyes and overlapped the two new figures.

"Ash… Pikachu." Lucario could see so many similarities in the young new boy and the past image: a boy with a red hat and a yellow mouse on his shoulder.

"Uh…" the young boy interrupted Lucario's reminiscing. The yellow mouse tilted its head to the right.

"Well, I am a Pikachu…" She confessed softly.

"My name's not Ash," the boy said. "You've got me confused with someone else. The name's Red." Red pulled Lucario to his feet. "I'm a pokémon trainer. Pikachu, my gang, and I came here to find some new pokémon."

Pikachu leaped from Red's shoulder to the ground and propped up on her hind legs. "We got up here and at first there we couldn't see anything." She started waving her tiny arms to illustrate her story. "Then there was a bright blue light right here. A big crystal appeared and was glowing! We took a closer look and… we saw you in there! You looked like you were sleeping inside. Then the crystal dissolved into pretty blue light. You woke up after that." Lucario finally took the chance to look around while he listened to Pikachu's tale.

It was a large circular room with a blue, broken crystalline pillar in the center, to the right of where they were standing. Green crystal arches and pillars filled the room while diamond formations lined the side of the wall and on the dome-like ceiling. The room itself glowed green save for a faint pink light in between the crystal stalactite and stalagmite. There were many passages blocked by cave-ins. Lucario felt at home and lost at the same time. '_How much time has passed?' _He thought then told himself. '_Heh, you've been asleep for a long time, Lucario.'_

"Okay, Pikachu! Don't talk his ears off! Maybe we should introduce the others now?" Red cut the electric pokémon off from her exciting, non-stop chatter. He reached behind with one hand and started rustling through his backpack as he motioned to the other three creatures behind him. A large, orange, long necked dragon nodded slightly and flapped its blue wings.

"This is Charizard," Red introduced. Then he motioned to a four-legged turquoise dinosaur with a pink bud on its back. A pair of vines came from the bud and wrapped around a squirming blue turtle with a swirled tail.

"That's Ivysaur, the plant one, and- Squirtle, chill out for a sec!" The blue turtle still squirmed and started shouting.

"Come on, Ivy, come on! I just wanna go explore! I'm not gonna touch anything else! I swear! Come on, Ivy, lemme down! Lemme down!" Squirtle pleaded as he flipped upside down in the vines' grasp. Lucario tilted his head down to hide a small, amused smile.

"Man," Red sighed, still rummaging through his pack. "Squirtle, why're ya keep flailing like that?"

"He says he just wants to explore," Lucario translated.

"You understand 'em?" Red exclaimed then mumbled, "There it is…"

"Yes, I am a pokémon as well. I'm-"

"LUCARIO, THE AURA POKéMON," a metallic voice broke in. "LUCARIO CAN SENSE AURAS TO IDENTIFY AND TAKE IN THE FEELINGS OF CREATURES OVER HALF A MILE AWAY." Lucario calmly focused on the small, red mechanical booklet the boy finally managed to find in his pack.

"Sorry, just had to record the data. Gotta catch 'em all!" Red smiled apologetically and clapped the metal booklet shut.

"Definitely a trainer," Lucario sighed in disbelief and shook his head side to side. "I cannot believe this…"

"We're about to leave. Wanna come with?" Pikachu piped.

"I have nowhere else to go," Lucario confessed.

Red's face lit up with another smile. "You can come!"

The aura pokémon blinked, taken aback by the trainer and other pokémons' generosity. He nodded and started along behind the group through one of the stable tunnels. Lucario took one last look behind his shoulder with a genuine look of somber remembrance as the group stepped further and further away from the crystal chamber. The group followed the dark tunnel until the sunlight started reflecting off the small blue-green crystals lining the path. Outside, the sun hung in the center of the sky over a thick green forest. Lucario closed his eyes and the ribbons on the back of his head rose as he concentrated. The sky turned dark and the world glowed. Lucario could see the electric cloud of aura around Pikachu, the fiery aura of Red, the excited auras of his partners, and the auras of every rock and tree surrounding them. Lucario sent his mind's eye the furthest he could reach to relearn the world but he hit a wall of darkness and could not see as far as he meant to.

"I can't see as far as I could…" Lucario mumbled.

"Eh?" Pikachu slowed down to walk by him. "What's wrong?"

"On second thought," Lucario announced to Red and his gang, "I would like to go by myself for a bit and train. It has been a long time since I last used my power and I want to hone it but I'm afraid I would slow your progress if I did that **and** accompanied you. I appreciate your offer but I am going to decline."

"You want to go alone? After you just woke up?" Red inquired.

"I will be fine. I won't take forever. It's not that I want to be alone, though I feel I'm used to it, I just don't want to hinder you. When my self-training is done, I'll find you again… if you really want me to go with you," Lucario answered somewhat shyly.

Red rubbed the back of his head. "If you want to go, I won't stop you. I'm not your master nor do you look like the type that wants to be caught." He pulled out a small, empty pokéball and tossed it up and down a few times as reinforcement of his words. "Neither am I Pikachu's master. I let it be up to you to decide what to do."

"Thank you… Red." The aura guardian bowed his head appreciatively. He turned so that the far away tunnel was to his right. From where the tunnel was, above the horizon, as high as the sky was an enormous tree with crystal gems sparkling on the trunk and branches. Lucario took one step forward and felt something jump onto his shoulder. He looked left at Pikachu whose eyes were wide and glittering like sparks.

"You look so sad. You're going to leave?" Her voice was soft but anxious.

"I'll come back if you want me to," Lucario gently reassured her.

"Of course I would! Why would anyone not?" Peppiness returned and Pikachu became her sparky self. "You may not be right there with us, but that doesn't mean you'll be completely gone. No one ever has to be alone."

"You're right."

"And you won't be alone either, 'cause you got friends."

"I…do?"

"Us, silly! So what, we just met. Doesn't mean we can't be friends."

From beneath his chest's steel spike, a slow warmth started to spread inside Lucario. He nodded and gave a subtle smile. Pikachu returned the smile with a huge grin across her tiny face.

"I'll always be your friend, so don't look so down, m'kay?" She cocked her head to the side as she prepared to jump.

"Okay," Lucario answered quietly and watched Pikachu leap off his shoulder and join Red. He waved goodbye to his new friends as he, himself, started down another path. Walking at a steady pace, he took his time to study the gigantic tree in the distance. He soon began to jog by himself along the curved trail and soon the magnificent tree was behind him. The sky began turning orange and pink, as a large, snowy mountain appeared far, far ahead of him, framed and peaked with lavender as the sun sank in the sky behind. Lucario stopped to take a break and admire the sunset with the tree.

"The Tree of Beginning," he called it. Even from his distance, he could still see the crystals dotting the tree, now sparkling gold in the setting sun's light. _What a coincidence that I am beginning a new life from that place. _Lucario sat, silent, in a meditating position, still watching the sun's rays frame the far-off place of origin. The distant golden light pulled out another memory in front of the aura guardian's eyes.

"_You deserve a second chance."_

Lucario's auburn eyes reflected the memory and light from the tree. He let the golden shine glint and sparkle with life as he stared back.

"…A second chance," Lucario repeated. He slowly closed his eyes.

"… I will not waste it…Thank you… my friend." He stood, admired the distant tree one last time, then turned his back and started down a new path as the sun set behind him.

_**(How'd you like it? The ambiguity is for a reason so if you know something about part of the story's mystery then please don't tell anyone. Some may not notice so think of it as a spoiler alert; No one wants to spoil a surprise. **_

_**Please review but no flames. I welcome any and all constructive critisism. If you don't like it, write a review too but give a proper reason why so I can learn from my mistakes and make my story better. Again, thank you very much for reading my story at all!)**_


	2. Prologue 2: A New Adventure

_**(Hello, this is Xybur7! Thank you for reading my first fanfic. I hope it's going well for everyone. Here's Prologue 2. Sorry, the prologue's going to be a little on the long side so the characters establish relationships with each other, but please bear with me. There's some butt-kicking/slicey-dicey action in this one.**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything in this story. All characters/places/objects belong to their respective owners.)**_

Prologue 2: A New Adventure

The castle sat under the night sky peacefully. Moonlight shined through the open window of a small room and the wind gently made ripples on the transparent curtains. No noise sounded but for muffled grunts of agony coming from an old bed in the corner. A teenage boy squirmed and writhed under his thin covers, trapped in a nightmare. He clasped his hands over his large, pointed ears, attempting to shut out unheard voices. His eyes were squeezed shut and hid under his bronze bangs as he rolled from side to side. Inside his dream was chaos. Voices echoed, vaguely female. Startling images zipped back and forth through the blond boy's mind. They surrounded him so that he was in the middle of it all.

"Disaster is approaching…" The voice stated from nowhere. "All heroes must come together. Evil rises. Find its bane." A picture appeared showing a forest clearing with a sword with a purple hilt standing in a pedestal. Another picture came forth revealing land by the ocean with a floating isle above it. The elfin boy witnessed with shock as violet and black spheres appeared all over the land. Like black holes, they sucked up an area completely, letting nothing, not even light, escape it. One black sphere appeared in the sky, another below that one, then another and another until the picture looked like there were great gaping holes all over it. The image faded away and was replaced by an enormous sphere made up of orb visions of the places swallowed by the black holes.

The voice loudly echoed again. "A world made of worlds… shall be created and must be destroyed… It is time… for you… to receive your piece… We shall send a guide… to lead you… to the master of all blades… Fight on… courageous one."

The bronze-haired boy jolted awake, finally free of the terrible sights in his dream. A couple of chimes jingled above his head and he looked up, tiny bits of shining glitter lit up the boy's deep blue eyes. A ball of glowing blue light with a pair of translucent wings, a fairy, circled around and jerked towards the open moonlit window.

"_We shall send a guide," _the boy recalled. The blue fairy bounced up and down over the windowsill, ringing at every bounce. The boy looked down at his bed, hesitating. He got up, tugged on his cloth pants and tunic, and pointed toward his small wooden wardrobe, silently asking if he could prepare for the quest ahead. The fairy moved back into the small room and dipped up and down once. The young adult moved swiftly to the wooden closet and pulled out his gear quietly.

The boy slipped on some chainmail and covered it with a forest green tunic. He tucked his pants into his brown leather boots, tightened a belt around his tunic, slipped on some gloves and armguards and started gathering weapons as if he had always been prepared for this time. Now the boy began to look like a skilled warrior. He grabbed a blue decorated shield, a white boomerang, a small bag of bombs, a metal claw-like gadget with a chain, a quiver full of arrows and a finely polished wooden bow but as he reached for a sword the little fairy knocked away his hand. The young warrior glanced at the ball of light, puzzled. The fairy spun around once, jerked back toward the window, then swiveled behind the boy and flew into his back. Raising his hands in defeat, the boy took a couple of steps toward the window but then stopped and searched the cupboard of his closet. He pulled out a long green cap, moved some of his bronze hair back, and fitted the cap on his head.

"Link."

The green warrior turned to the doorway at the sound of his name. In the doorway was a young woman with long brown hair wearing a heavy, dark cloak. She wore a golden tiara along the top of her forehead and had her hair pulled back into a loose braid save for two long locks. She stepped into the room, her pale blue eyes clouded with worry.

"Princess Zelda!" the boy called Link exclaimed. "I thought you would be asleep."

"Please, Link," the princess said softly. "I've told you I don't want you to call me 'Princess.' I came… because I sensed you were going to leave." Link looked down, ashamed. Both he and Zelda looked at the blue fairy waiting at the window.

"I have to," Link said, still watching the fairy impatiently bob up and down. "Are you… going to come with me?"

"I can't. I've been invited to watch a tournament in a few days and I've already accepted," Zelda answered quietly. The two of them stayed quiet for a few seconds until Zelda once again broke the silence.

"Do you really want to go?"

Link sighed, defeated. "It's not like I want to, but… just… I've felt something tugging me, calling me for years and I never knew what it was or where it came from. And now I have a guide. I don't want to leave but I feel I have to." He turned to face Zelda. "While I'm gone, please don't get mixed up in any trouble, Princess. I won't be here to help."

"Don't call me 'Princess.' I understand. Here." Zelda held out a closed fist and opened it. Inside, she held a pair of blue earrings. "These are for you. I was going to give them to you on your next birthday but…"

"Thank you Pri- I mean, Zelda." Link carefully and delicately took the earrings from her hand.

"What is it- just a week or two away?"

"I'll be 18."

"I kn-" Finally, the blue fairy had enough of waiting and zoomed up to Link's face, bobbing up and down frantically. Then it circled his head many times making jingling sounds. Link glanced up at the fairy, and then gave one last solemn smile to his friend before trotting up and out the 2nd floor window. He rolled forward as he hit the ground then sneaked along the castle wall. Silently, while stuffing the earrings in a pouch, he looked both ways to make sure no patrol was around, and then looked up. Directly above him was some ivy that had climbed up and over the wall. Link grabbed the claw contraption, fitted it on one hand and aimed at the ivy. The metal claw clinked open and Link fired. The claw sailed straight at the ivy, leading a long chain, hit and clutched it. Link gave a tug to be sure it was secure then reeled himself in toward the claw. Like a monkey, he swiftly climbed to the top of the wall, and then jumped off the other side.

"Ha-Hwaah!" Link started to scream. The ground was farther down than he'd hoped. This time, he land with a thud.

"Kuh! - Tchii…" He gritted his teeth at the hard landing, then relaxed against the wall. He reached into his pouch and brought out the earrings. Link shrugged as he unclipped one earring and brushed away a lock of hair in front of one ear. Slowly breathing out, he pierced the earring in and clasped it shut. The blue fairy moved forward, toward a thick wood and bounced up and down as Link pierced his other ear. The fairy jerked in one direction, evidently trying to move along faster. It shot off that way and Link bolted from the wall to keep up with his guide. They raced deep into the dark forest until the light from the shining blue torch disappeared amidst the darkness.

/

There it stood, waiting for its master. Dappled sunlight gleamed of the well-preserved blade. The yellow gem in the base of the sword glittered warmly. Link reached for the violet hilt as he stood before it. He grasped it with his left hand and a warm feeling spread throughout. He grasped it with his right, and carefully pulled the sword out from its stone pedestal. It was free. Link pointed the sword up with his left hand. The sword was perfectly balanced for him, like it was meant for him. It felt strangely familiar and a blissful sense of nostalgia washed over Link. Behind the pedestal was a beautiful purple and gold scabbard, designed specifically for the sword. Link couldn't help but admire the sword's detailed craftsmanship. Somewhere, in the back of his head, a metallic but kind voice faintly echoed.

"_May we meet again…" _

Link looked around for the voice, but no one was there. It was only he and the blue fairy. Then unexpectedly, the blue fairy started to slowly fly away. Link noticed, sheathed the sword, and swung it on his back. He walked after the fairy. Now, the blue ball of light just hovered onward, with no concrete destination but Link still followed. He felt connected to it, and it reminded him of something. The fairy must have noticed Link still following and flew higher and faster away. Link struggled to keep up again. It seemed so familiar; he didn't want to lose it. The fairy got higher and farther away. Link reached out for it. It didn't come back.

Suddenly, Link's head began to hurt and his vision went white. A scene slowly came into focus.

_In the middle of a large empty chamber, a young boy, no older than 10, wearing a green tunic and cap, stood in front of a purple-hilted sword. The little boy stared at the sword, gave a small, relieved chuckled and started to turn away. A tiny blue ball of light popped out of the boy's hat and the child's face lit up with a smile. But the smile soon faded away as the fairy slowly flew past the child's face and up toward a stained-glass window near the ceiling of the tall room. The boy made an unintelligible call to the fairy but it continued to fly away, out of his grasp. The boy started to cry and reached for it but to no avail. Grief, loneliness, and despair engulfed the young boy as he stretched and waved for his departing fairy. Just as the blue light reached the window, the boy cried with agony the name of the one he had loved and cherished, the partner who always helped him, the friend he had waited for for so long._

"_NA-"_

"-vi…" Link whispered, his arm still outstretched. The world slowly turned an evil red color. Link look behind him, toward the sky and gasped. An enormous, flying airship was approaching from over the forest. It had bat wings coming out of its sides and framed on the front was a circular mask. A large hole had opened in the belly of the hull and black particles floated menacingly toward the ground, like snow before a blizzard. The fuzzy particles gathered and congregated into humanoid figures with green bodies and brown hands and feet. They stood up, their red eyes glowing, and advanced toward Link. The masked airship flew overhead, releasing more of the poisonous, evil spores. Link instinctively drew his new sword and readied his shield, prepared to fight.

"Iyo?" A green dinosaur with a red saddle padded up beside Link, rubbing its blue eyes with its hands.

'_Where did __**it**__ come from?' _Link wondered. The dinosaur yawned. Its mouth and belly were white and it had three orange scales on the back of its head. It kept jogging in place in its light brown shoes. A flash of movement and Link sliced a leaping humanoid figure in half. A bunch of evil creatures shifted around Link and threw themselves forward. Link swiftly balanced on one foot, swung his sword and gracefully spun around, laying waste to those within his sword's circle. Another group of figures converged on the green dinosaur. Link almost ran to protect it when the dinosaur jumped high into the air and drop-kicked one figure to the ground. Then it curled up and magically created an egg covering. The egg rolled in a circle, flattening all the red-eyed creatures in its path.

'_Good, he's capable_," Link gave an invisible sigh of relief then turned his attention back to the dark monsters that began attacking him. Getting farther and farther, the airship flew onward, releasing the evil spores. Link's eyes homed in on the escaping airship.

'_I can't let it get away.' _Link charged through the monster swarm to chase the airship. More human-like monsters popped up in his path.

'_Out of my way!'_ Link shouted in his head. He dashed forward, slashing downward, taking out two monsters at the same time. A footstep sounded close behind him as another monster took its allies' place. Link bent his knees and pulled back his sword arm. A twig cracked behind him and the sword glinted off the sunlight, ready. Link got down of one knee and stabbed at the monster's feet, spraying the dark spores for its blood. Then he quickly twisted his body and stabbed behind him, knocking over a creature that had pulled back for a punch. Link dashed forward to get out of the swarm. He could still see the dinosaur holding its own in its fight and slowing making its way to join up with him. But then, another monster slid in front of Link and reeled back a glowing fist. It punched as Link instinctively roll around to the back of it, tapped his sword tip directly below the monster, and lifted it high up into the air with one swing. He quickly pulled out a small, black bomb and held it up as he ducked another fiery punch. The fuse lit. He hurled up toward the sky and leaped to the side. Link jumped once, jumped off a monster's head, spun and flipped in mid-air to keep some momentum then landed gracefully outside the monster swarm as the creature he lifted into the air landed in the middle of it. In its brown hands was Link's bomb. It tilted its head, puzzled by it when the last of the wick burned off. Link turned away from the confused swarm, slashed twice with his sword, and spun it in his hand three times until the tip rested on the rim of the scabbard. He sheathed the blade and the bomb went off; the large explosion consumed the entire group of monsters and left not even their ashes.

"Pwah! Pwah! Awowowowo!" the dinosaur cried out. Link caught a glimpse of the dinosaur struggling to shake an enemy that had hopped on his back.

"Tch," Link muttered as he pull out his bow and aimed an arrow. He let the arrow fly straight into the monster's head and knocked it off. Then he faced where the airship was flying and ran after it. The dinosaur shook itself and padded after him. Link kept after the airship then screeched to a halt. Link cursed his luck as he helplessly watched it fly over a desert canyon while he was stuck at the edge of a high cliff.

'_Damn…' _Link thought. _'There's got to be another route.'_ He dashed along the edge of the cliff, trying to keep the airship in sight. _'Is this part of that nightmare? Is that even going to come true?' _Link shifted his eyes to the left and up and came to a stop. There, up in the sky, was a floating, black and violet sphere. Barely visible violet lightning shot around inside as the black orb sucked in everything around it, even the light. _'The nightmare's real!' _Link's eyes darted behind him, back in the direction of his castle. Then he looked back toward where the airship flew away. _'Can't dawdle.' _He started to run along the edge again as the dinosaur followed close. _'Zelda… please be safe…'_

**(Oh, the dramatic irony. Those who've actually played through SSE know exactly what this means. Thanks so much for taking your time to read this. Please review so I can make it better! Any and all feedback is deeply appreciated. ^u^)**


	3. Prologue 3: A New Light

_**(Hey, this is Xybur7. I'm so glad my story's been noticed! What with all the OVER 7,000 stories for SSB. Thanks guys for your support. Even a little gives me confidence to keep writing. Thank you for taking the time of day to read this.  
Please note that there is a mild spoiler for Kid Icarus: Uprising.**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own ANYTHING in this story. All characters/places/objects belong to their respective owners.)**_

Prologue 3: A New Light

"Zelda! ZELDA!" Link screamed at the top of his lungs. He ran ahead a little and called again into the open plain. Behind him, the dinosaur hung its head and a small, mustached man wearing blue overalls and a red shirt and hat patted its head with his white gloved hand.

"There, there, it's-a okay, Yoshi," the red man reassured the dinosaur.

"Ooh, I shouldn't have left her alone. She should still be nearby… I'm sorry," a small pink puff-ball with large blue eyes apologized. It walked slowly, dragging its red feet.

"It's-a not-a your fault, Kirby," the red man told the pink ball. "If-a anything, it's-a mine. I shouldn't-a let my guard down then. Link, I'm-a sorry for-a the mix-up. I'm-a sorry we-a knocked you out-a. We-a should-a tried-a harder to tell ya."

Link glanced behind him and gave the red, mustached man a death-glare. Yoshi cowered behind the man's back and Kirby squeaked and hopped onto Yoshi's back to hide as well.

"Link's scaring me, Mario…" Kirby murmured. The man had lurched back with fear at the murderous stare.

"He's-a scaring me-a too…" Mario gulped. Link looked forward again and kept going. '_She's been kidnapped.' _Link swallowed his worry and panic. _'She's not safe. She's not safe. She's in danger. She's in trouble. She could be hurt. She could be-'_

"Hiya!" A young boy with chestnut hair stuck his face next to Link's. Link jerked to the side but kept walking. The boy had a cheerful smile and his light blue eyes sparkled. He wore a loose white toga belted over a tight black tank-top and some black shorts. He had leather and gold bracers on each wrist, with two glowing rings around his left bracer. On his left arm was a small golden band as well as on his right leg right above his brown boot-like sandals. A soft breeze whipped up the boy's white scarf around a red gem pin on his right shoulder. The boy laughed, embarrassed, and readjusted the golden laurel wreath around his head.

"Sorry 'bout that," the boy said. "You kinda seemed a little lonely over here so I decided to come over. I'm Pit by the way. Nice to meet'cha!" Pit extended one hand for a handshake and something flipped open on his back. A pair of pure white, feathered wings flapped a bit due to Pit's enthusiasm. Link looked at the wings, slightly surprised, then looked disdainfully at Pit's waiting hand.

Pit took the cue. "No shake? Okay." He withdrew his hand. "Surprised 'bout the wings? Cool aren't they? I'm an angel, from Skyworld. It's really pretty up there. Lady Palutena does **everything **to keep it squeaky clean and pristine. Oh, by the way, Lady Palutena's my patron goddess. She helps me fly around but I don't really want to talk about that…So, I heard your name is Link. That's a cool name! Not like mine, I mean, come on, _'Pit?'_ I'm a hole in the ground. But 'Link' is cool. You're pretty quiet but'cha seem like a pretty nice guy. Hey, ya know, you use the bow pretty well. Your archery's pretty good. So is mine. Sorry 'bout what happened back there, but we can put the past behind us right? Hahaha-ha…ha. Yeah, I came over to try and cheer you up 'cause you looked kinda down. I understand. If I lost a friend, I would want to save them as soon as possible. I see where you're at. But this is the time where you need friends to support you. Do you have any friends? Lady Palutena said I should make some friends. Can I be your friend?" Pit grinned. Link gave Pit a look of hair-tearing annoyance and raised an eyebrow.

"Do I ever shut up?" Pit translated the gesture. "I don't like to keep quiet. Silence sounds sad. Anyways, let's talk about you. You look adventurous in that green tunic, so I'm sure you must have your share of stories. Oh man, did weird things happen to me back then." Link began to tune out Pit's non-stop chatter.

"For instance, I wasn't even myself half the time. Like, monsters would turn me into stuff. What's worse, it was sometimes food! I was food and I couldn't eat myself! I had to go to the hospital so many times just because I was turned into an eggplant. Then later, they figured out how to turn me into crispy shrimp! It would be a race to see if I could eat or be eaten. Oh, drat, I'm starting to get hungry. Enough about food. But I was other strange things. Like an inanimate object. Have you ever been a ring? The kind you wear on your finger? It was chaos. But anyone who put it on, I could control. Sounds mean, but I had to do it to fix everything. I turned into a little girl which was really weird 'cause I'm a boy. Then a dog found the ring and nearly ate me! But I got control which was, again, pretty weird. I was on four legs, I couldn't talk, and garbage smelled delicious, not that I would ever eat any. Have you ever been a dog-?"

Link exhaled quickly as his vision turned white. Another image surfaced from a past not of his own.

_A large, evil hand shot out and grasped a teenage boy through a menacing black wall. The young man screamed with terror as he was pulled through the evil curtain. A shadowy monster held the young man by the neck as he struggled to get free. A light flashed from the boy's left hand and the monster tossed him away with fear. The young man gasped on his hands and knees, surrounded by eerie orange light. The agony was excruciating. Something was twisting inside him, transforming him. He couldn't bear it any longer. In a howl of pain, the young man's face elongated into a snout, his hands and feet became paws, and a tail shot out from below the base of his back. Fur bristled up and his already pointed ears moved backwards. Fangs protruded from his mouth and the nails of his new paws sharpened into claws. Only one thing remained the same on this beast: the eyes. Its big, blue eyes were wide and feral. Feral blue eyes._

"-Whoa, hey, you don't look so good." Pit got closer and lifted his hands, prepared to catch Link if he happened to fall. Link blinked a couple of times, and shook his hand, palm facing Pit.

"Well, if you say you're okay. Oh, hey, what was your friend's name again? The one you're looking for now? Zelda, right? That's a pretty name. Is it a girl? Sounds like a girl's name. I'm sure you'll make it to her. Heck, I almost lost a friend once. He was a lot like me. Well, he was me, but that's not important. He fell and I dived right after him. I had to beg to get my flight even though I just used it. I needed my flight to grab his hand. He was so close I could barely reach him. I got my flight and zoomed straight after him. I got him, well, I think I got him. He was okay afterwards. But, I burned my-" Pit abruptly stopped mid-sentence, his smile gone, his eyes wide with the pain of the memory. Link gave him a small worried look.

"Nothing," Pit blurted out, his cheerful smile reappearing. "All's well that ends well, right and- hey, did he go in that cave?" Mario, Yoshi, and Kirby caught up a second later and inspected the entrance. It looked man-made with its half-octagonal cinder block frame. Beside the entrance was an empty, purple and yellow vehicle that looked like a cross between a shopping cart and crane.

"That's-a definitely his-a car," Mario confirmed. "The one that-a fat-a bird stole."

"That rotten penguin," Kirby grumbled. "Thinks he's king of everyone. I'll show 'em who's boss and teach 'em not to take things that aren't his."

"Okeydokey, let's-a go!" Mario bravely dashed into the cave followed by Yoshi and Kirby. Link looked back at Pit and swept his hand out toward the entrance as an "after you" gesture. Pit squirmed nervously.

"Ya know, on second thought, I think I'll just fly around and meet you on the other side. I don't really like caves, so… yeah, uh… see ya!" Pit spread his wings, about to take off. Link rolled his eyes, reached over and pulled the back of Pit's scarf, keeping him from lifting completely off the ground.

"Gak-!" Pit gagged. Link grabbed the back of Pit's undershirt and proceeded to drag the begging angel into the dark tunnel.

"Wait a sec- Link! Hey! Hey! Listen! Listen to me! I can't go in there; it's all dark, dank and dusty. Triple D's, like the guy we're chasing! Get it? Okay, enough jokes, I'm afraid of the dark. I can't stand it. And I got claustrophobia. I'll freak out, go crazy, drop my marbles and slip on them! I'll go nuts! Bananas! Oh, now I'm getting hungry again. Oooh… okay, okay, I'll stay, I'll stay. But I get really scared easily, 'kay?" Pit surrendered and stood up. Link could now barely see the angel except for the two glowing rings around on the left side.

"Well, as Mario said, 'let's-a go!'" Pit said shakily. The angel and the warrior took tentative steps in the deep, dark passage. Link felt lost in the cave's impenetrable darkness. _'If only that fairy were here…'_ He wished. Someone clutched and hung on to Link's left arm. Two golden glowing rings bounced up and down on the left wrist. _'Pit… Here I am wishing for light and he's just as much in the dark as I am…_ Link pathetically smiled in the dark as the group marched forward. _As much as she worries about me, Zelda never wants me to constantly worry about her. Now I know why._ As much as Link had trained since childhood, nothing could compare to the thrill he was feeling as he pushed through the unknown territory. It was his first time outside his home and it felt somewhat good. But the good emotion was consumed by a deep lost feeling. Link heard three pairs of footsteps echoing behind him. _'We must've passed them in the dark. But we still have no way of knowing which way is the right way. We're lost. __**I'm **__lost. Great goddesses above, please lead me. I still need a guide.' _He prayed.

Then, in the distant darkness, a shining half-circle appeared, the light at the end of the tunnel. The group was pleased to find the exit and they all released a sigh of relief, while Pit released Link's arm. Link started to speed up toward the exit when one step landed on nothing. A gaping hole in the ground opened wide, waiting to swallow anyone who stepped in, and Link was its next meal. Link began to fall into the abyss as the group tried to rush over but could only watch in helpless horror.

"FLY, ICARUS!" a call blasted throughout the cave. Suddenly, someone snatched Link's arm and carried him over to the other side of the hole. His wings emanated a brilliant blue light, almost too bright to see the one flying. The blue light glinted off the golden wreath in his savior's hair. As he was set down, Link could see faint shadows of the rest of the group. Mario hopped on Yoshi's back and Yoshi jumped and ran on air to where he was and Kirby puffed up like a balloon and floated across. They all came over Link.

"Are you okay?"

"Are you-a alright?"

"Iyo-shii?"

Link nodded his head, shaken.

"Then it's-a good thing we're-a at-a the end," Mario slumped over, all the tension from that one moment dissipating. The group exited, bidding 'good riddance' to the tricky tunnel. Link felt someone pat his back. A tired Pit with drooping wings walked beside him again.

"Sorry I nearly killed you," he said with an exhausted smile. Link gave him a confused look.

"Couldn't see it, could you? I know I couldn't until I could only see your head. If you had fallen, that would've hurt. Pits can be pretty dangerous." Link still looked puzzled.

"You almost fell into a _pit._ Ya know, a hole in the ground?" the angel pointed at himself and grinned expectantly. Link raised an eyebrow.

"It's **funny.** You're supposed to laugh," Pit implied as he waited for a reaction. Link softly smiled and shook his head at the bad pun.

"Close enough. But you're not hurt, are you?" Pit's eyes were now flooded with concern. Link shook his head, letting Pit finally relax. There was a silence between them as Pit looked forward to their destination but Link stared at his young angel savior. He tugged on right sleeve of Pit's toga to get his attention. The angel's blue eyes watched him, as deep as the ocean, as clear as the sky. The naïveté sparkling in them was gone replaced by the reflection of countless years of wisdom and knowledge older than how the child looked. The child angel's eyes of insight pierced through the impression of weakness he originally portrayed. Link slowly placed a hand over his mouth, his fingertips barely touching his lips and brought down the hand in front of him. Pit's blue eyes gleamed and he smiled, not a cheerful smile but one full of knowledge.

"You're welcome," Pit said then focused ahead. Link was astonished. The celestial angel understood everything so completely without Link needing to say a word. Pit's insight and intuition was on a whole other level compared to Link's. The angel could comprehend any minute movement or gesture with him, as if a secret tie connected the two. Somewhere in the back of Link's mind, a voice sounded. A vaguely female voice from the heavens echoed gently, answering his prayer.

'_You will always have a guide.'_

**_(How'd you like it? Pit must want to make you rip your hair and plug your ears, huh? I do try to take the time to play or watch Let's Plays of these characters' games to understand their background and their personality... Except half so with Link... It's a new Link..._**

**_Please review so I can see how I did and/or fix my mistakes.)_**


	4. Prologue 4: A New Friend

_**(Hey there! This is Xybur7! Sorry the prologue's long. I promise it'll be done in 6 parts. Then my fun shall begin, MUAHAHA- *cough* I mean- Thanks for taking the time to read my story. I really appreciate it! ^u^ Hope you like it!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own anything in this story. All characters/places/objects belong to their respectful owners.)**_

Prologue 4: A New Friend

Lucario stood balanced, meditating at the tip of the snowy mountain top, his eyes closed, his mind focused. He watched three aura-filled figures swiftly climbing towards him. The range of his aura sight had grown exponentially and now he could see for miles upon miles. He heard the soft taps of shoes on the ice and the wind blowing underneath one of the aura figures' wings. A pair of figures started jumping up and down but the other landed and looked directly at Lucario challengingly. Lucario opened his eyes. There was a pair of small people wearing a blue and pink fur parka gaping at the aura warrior and a dark blue ball of fury staring angrily with yellow eyes through a silver mask. Lucario leaped off the point and landed in a martial art stance in front of the blue ball. It wore purple metal shoes, white gloves, black armored shoulder pads, and a dark purple cape. The blue ball growled and gripped his golden sword that had four other points on the side of the blade, curved outward like fire.

"This is **my** training ground," Lucario warned. He began to release his aura through his black paws.

"I don't see your name on it," the blue ball spat in a deep male voice and pointed his golden sword provocatively at the aura guardian. Lucario felt an unusual surge of anger at the gesture.

"Are you challenging me?" He asked the angry blue ball. The blue ball kept its sword pointed at the pokémon and tapped its foot a few times.

"Just stay outta my way. I'm ticked off right now, so shoo." Lucario could sense the blue ball's anger building up inside of it but that didn't stop him from feeling enraged as well.

"How- **dare- **you! I was here first! If anyone should leave, it's you, you arrogant weakling!" Lucario's rage was growing. _'How dare he speak like that! What on earth is his problem?'_ The masked ball's yellow eyes grew smaller and gained a red tint.

"What… did you call me?"

"Arrogant. Weakling."

"AAARRRGH! I'll prove you wrong!" The blue ball roared and slashed outward with his sword. Lucario could sense a furious flare in his opponent's aura. Lucario leaned forward, preparing to leap. He moved his paws beside him. Lucario put his paws together and a sphere of aura began building between them.

"Want to try?" he baited.

"CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!" The blue ball jumped into the air. His purple cape flapped and turned into bat-like wings. He pointed his golden sword above his head and flipped to aim at Lucario. Then the masked enemy jetted forward, spinning like a drill. Lucario swiftly shifted his weight and slid backward as the sword struck the ground. The aura sphere had grown as big as Lucario's torso in his paws. Lucario hurled the aura sphere at his opponent who just yanked his sword from the ground.

"Fool!" The masked ball yelled and swiftly swept his cape around himself. In an instant, he vanished and the aura sphere shot passed the spot and nearly hit the pair of climbers. Lucario quickly closed his eyes and focused, trying to sense where the blue ball would appear next. A fierce aura flashed behind him. Lucario rose onto one foot and focused his aura. Afterimages shot all around him as his enemy attacked from the back. Lucario himself disappeared and reappeared behind his blue enemy. The blue ball tried to turn. _'Too slow,' _Lucario thought. One lightning-fast, aura-packed kick later and the blue ball sailed forward. The blue ball flipped in the air, began spinning around at blinding speed, turning into a golden tornado, and headed right into the aura pokémon.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! Then it was Lucario who flew straight up into the air. Lucario gritted his teeth and brought his paws closer to his chest. He thrust his feet down and did a backflip. Upside down, he began building up his aura in one palm, the aura burning more fiercely then before. His opponent below him stopped spinning and glanced up just in time for Lucario to land in a one-paw-handstand on his face. Lucario brought his feet down backwards, grabbed his blue opponent by the mask, and lifted him up and over his head and down in front of him. Lucario pulled back his aura-filled palm in a circle and aimed at the masked ball's face. Time froze for one second as the yellow eyes behind the mask widened with the realization for what was coming. Lucario thrust his palm forward for a one-inch punch and his enemy once again went soaring backwards from the explosion of aura. But once again, the masked ball recovered from the blast. His cape turned back into wings and he propelled himself upward, did a loop and flew straight back to Lucario, eyes tinted red. The aura pokémon brought his paws above his chest spike then thrust himself forward as well at an extreme speed.

The pair of fighters exchanged scrapes one after another, catching each other off-guard and canceling each other's blows. The blue ball's speedy sword-play matched the aura guardian's smooth martial arts. The masked ball sliced downward from above the pokémon's head. Aura ceased flowing out of Lucario's paws as he brought them up, making a small 'X'. The golden sword got caught between the two thorns on the backside of his paws and the two combatants glared at each other. Their competitive spirits clashed in each other's eyes. Lucario's aura flared in his feet and he dropped to one knee and kicked out. The strength behind the sword relented and the masked ball shot back, barely dodging the kick. Both fighters slid back a little and continued their fiery stare-down.

Tension filled the thin atmosphere. Nothing but the icy wind made a sound. After a second of silence, the brawlers stepped forward and shook each other's hand.

"Lucario," the aura pokémon introduced himself to his new-found rival.

"Meta Knight," his opponent followed suit, all his previous anger spent on the battle. "You fight well."

"As do you," Lucario complimented back, pleased. "May I ask what you are doing up here?"

"I'm trying to reclaim my-" Meta Knight's words were cut off as an enormous airship with dark bat-like wings descended below the red clouds and flew straight at the top of the mountain. Trapped on the underbelly was a smaller, whiter airship with 'STARFOX' written across the back of it in big green letters. The front of the bigger airship had something akin to Meta Knight's mask. The gigantic airship tilted upwards and slammed the smaller one right against the mountain top with a crash. Lucario sensed Meta Knight's intense rage returning in seconds.

"-my **SHIIIIIP!**" The blue ball of boiling fury took off, gliding upwards and bouncing off the falling rocks to get closer to the stalled airships.

"Wait!" Lucario began leaping up the wreckage to follow. The great, masked airship started dragging the smaller airship up against the jagged mountain, ripping up the belly and side guns. Lucario lost his balance for a moment on the silver wing of the small airship as it jerked with the force of the bigger one's thrust but the aura pokémon quickly regained his momentum and chased after his enraged partner. He got to the deck and perked his ears a little. Clanging sounded from the other side. He readied his spiked fists, rushed over, and hopped down one level toward the noise. Meta Knight was furiously slashing, hitting, kicking and cursing loudly at a locked steel door.

"OPEN THIS DOOR! I OWN THIS SHIP! THIS IS **MY **SHIP! HOW DARE YOU STEAL IT FROM ME! NOW OPEN! I SAID '**OPEN!' **I DON'T KNOW WHO THE HELL YOU THINK YOU ARE! FOOL! COWARD! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, I'LL TEACH YOU THE HARD WAY NOT TO **TOUCH! MY! SHIP!**"

"Meta Knight…" Lucario said sternly as he got into another martial art stance. Aura filled one of his palms. Lucario aimed at the door while Meta Knight continued.

"GODDAMN YOU, I OUTTA WRING YOUR NECK, KILL YOU, MURDER YOU, CUT YOU, SLICE YOU, CHOP YOU INTO BITS AND BURY YOU ALIVE YOU ROTTEN-STEALIN'-THEIVING-PIECE-A-CRAPPY-FRIKIN-LYIN'- SONOFA-!"

"Meta Knight!"

"WHAT?"

"You want this door open?"

"No, I want to stay out here and talk about how nice the weather is. NO FRIKIN DUH I WANT THIS DAMN DOOR OPEN!"

At Meta Knight's last word, Lucario swiftly made a circle with his arm and one-inch punched the scratched door. Aura exploded from the pokémon's palm and the door blasted into pieces inside the hallway. Meta Knight blinked then stared at Lucario in amazement. Lucario gestured toward the doorway.

"Open," he stated.

"How did- You could've- What did you do?" Meta Knight asked, astonished.

"Force Palm," Lucario answered. "Are we going to talk about the weather now-" he gestured again, "or are we going to retake your ship?"

"Retake my ship." Meta Knight swooped in and the pair took off down the hallway. The small swordsman glided down the hallways quickly with the aura pokémon close behind.

"This should take us to the control room. By the way-" Meta Knight gave an annoyed glare at Lucario, eyes tinted slightly red again. "Were you, by any chance, holding back on me?"

"No."

"Your… Force Palm could've sent me over the edge further than it did. You blew **my** door to bits but not me. How so?"

"I use my own life-force, aura, as energy. It's my weapon, power, and what keeps me alive. The more injuries you have, the more energy you expend to fight. The more hits I take, the more my aura is released. In other words, the more I'm hurt, the stronger I get."

"So… if you were at death's door or something, you could be stronger than anyone."

"Theoretically, but I'd rather not test that."

"G'point." Meta Knight continued down the hallway at high speed. Lucario screeched to a halt. The pokémon looked back at a cardboard box lying in a corner. '_A cardboard box in the middle of an empty hallway?'_ Lucario scoffed at the pathetic idea and closed his eyes to activate his aura sight. Under the box was a glowing figure of a man sitting patiently. '_Hmph, nice try, but you can't hide from me.' _Lucario bent over and picked up the box, revealing the man underneath.

"What are you doing?" Lucario asked unimpressed by his attempt at camouflage. The man startled so much Lucario could practically see an exclamation point above his head. The man leaped up and back away from the pokémon. He wore a tight, dull gray jumpsuit and a black headband. All over his chest were harnesses, straps, and belts with compartments all over. He had his square chin tensed as he clenched his teeth. The man looked like he needed sleep and perhaps a shave.

"How did you know I was there?" He exclaimed.

"A random box in the middle of an empty metal hallway isn't very common." Lucario answered, still unimpressed by the man's disguise.

"DID YOU TAKE MY SHIP?" Meta Knight came hurtling back, about to run the man through with his golden sword.

"Hold it! You need to work on your temper, Meta Knight! He's not our enemy!" A warning went off in Lucario's head and he quickly used his aura sight again. Meta Knight's angry aura grew calmer but behind him was a massive wave of unsteady red. An army of humanoid creatures ambled for the group with murderous intent filling their glowing eyes.

"They are." Lucario reopened his eyes and he and Meta Knight assumed offensive positions immediately. The gray ninja hid behind the corner and Lucario motioned him forward.

"Stop hiding and come help," he ordered.

The man began, "But I'm on a covert operation-"

"Do we care?" both Lucario and Meta Knight shot back together.

The man started again, "I don't know if you-"

"Rhetorical," they both answered curtly again and charged into the swarm. Meta Knight slashed through an entire row and dark, black particles spewed from the gashes. Lucario slid underneath them, released his aura in one quick blast then continued to press onward.

"These things-" Meta Knight kicked down an enemy that interrupted him. "-we call 'em primids. They popped up out of nowhere and STOLE MY SHIP- Ahem, I mean, started causing trouble. They're destroying the world. Everywhere they go, disaster follows. Every place they appear gets consumed by some sort of black hole or something. And they're using MY SHIP-!"

The gray ninja swiftly dashed to catch up and got out between breaths, "This… isn't part… of the mission-"

"Screw the mission," the pair cut him off. Meta Knight kept at the lead, guiding the group through the long, branching hallways. He stopped at a large metal door and punched a button beside the frame to open it. The three began to dash again but stopped abruptly. All of them gasped when they looked up. Two large bird cages hung from the hanger-like ceiling with a statue in each one. Lucario could just make out the features on both. Both were women in dresses. The blonde one wore a puffy pink dress and white gloves while the brown haired one's dress had a violet top and a long, white skirt with a colored banner attached to the front of it.

"I know them!" Meta Knight exclaimed. "But what are they doing **here**?"

"Who are they?" Lucario turned to him but kept looking around, anxious for an ambush.

"They're two princesses from different kingdoms. I don't know them personally. But they-"

"Uh… You two…" The man interrupted, pointing at the cages. Lucario looked up.

"Can I get **one more **sentence out?" Meta Knight began to shout.

"Meta Knight, look up," Lucario said, his orange eyes wide with fear and disgust. The same kind of dark particles made the primids slowly poured down the chain, around the two statues, down to the floor like blood. The two pools of darkness morphed into humanoid figures but grew a little taller and slender. The darkness melted away, revealing two evil copies of the caged princesses. Warning signs went off like crazy in Lucario's head. He closed his eyes and focused for a few seconds. Dark, twisted aura flickered from the two copies as high as a bonfire.

"I can take 'em." Meta Knight confidently slashed out with his golden sword and prepared to launch right at them. The copies' eyes glared as they both readied themselves for an attack as well. The room's temperature rose with the heat of the copies' hate. Lucario crouched slightly and raised his paws for an intense battle. A smile crept upon the pokémon's face as he warned his friend.

"Not alone, you can't."

_**(How'd you like it? Please leave me reviews so I can know how I did and/or make anything better.  
Thank you for taking the time to read this! Your support is deeply appreciated.)**_


	5. Prologue 5: A New Purpose

_**(Hey guys! This is Xybur7. Thanks for putting up with me so far. And thanks for taking the time to read my story. Your support means a lot and keeps me motivated.  
By the way... I skipped a fight scene... I know, I know, but this prologue, especially this part is long enough and I, myself, am getting impatient. Just assume that they won... 'cause they usually do.**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything in this story. Any and all characters/places/objects belong to their respectful owners.)**_

Prologue 5: A New Purpose

Lucario watched the two female figures traverse the outside of the ship. One gently floated across platforms with her umbrella while the other aura nimbly and swiftly leaped across with no problems. Lucario kept his mind's eye on the lithe one; her aura was very unusual. There was an outer layer around her but it was as if there was a second layer on the inside. _'Two different auras,'_ Lucario thought. Finally, he piped up.

"They're not staying put, Snake," he told the gray ninja as they ran. The man named Snake looked at the pokémon, puzzled.

"It's for their own safety! How you know?" Snake asked.

"I can see them."

"How can you **see **anything with your eyes closed?"

"I don't need eyes to see their auras running off… or you holding up four fingers."

"Aura, aura, aura. It's all about aura with you." Snake closed his hand.

"Of course. It's my special ability to see it and control it-," Lucario finally opened his eyes, now full of sadness. He couldn't forget the images of his dead master and his past friend, both long gone.

"-and mine alone," Lucario whispered.

"Here!" Meta Knight ordered. The three of them turned into the elevator and Meta Knight slammed the button to activate it. The lift rose slowly and the small swordsman and aura pokémon prepared. The elevator stopped and Meta Knight and Lucario stared in confusion. Five flat, black figures were messing with the controls and steering wheel. They were nothing but 2-dimensional silhouettes of people. Snake noticed the two fighters hesitating and charged into battle. Lucario turned to Meta Knight as Snake was beating up the silhouettes.

"_They_ were the ones who-?" Lucario began to ask.

"Say. Nothing," Meta Knight cut him off as Snake hurled all five of the 2-D enemies through the front window, shattering the glass over the long dashboard.

"You're paying for that…" Meta Knight muttered under his breath. Snake brushed his hands together and looked out the broken window.

"Hey… Isn't that… one of the princesses?" Snake asked. Lucario stepped up to look out as well. He recognized the blonde girl in the pink dress as one of the princesses they saved but next to her was a blonde ninja in a white and blue jumpsuit with a red eye design on the front of her chest. Beside them, was anthropomorphic red fox wearing a dark green jumpsuit, a red scarf, a gray jacket, and red boots. The fox pulled out a gun and the two women behind him jerked back. _'What are they looking at?' _Lucario thought and moved closer. The group of 2-D figures had melted into dark particles and was now forming into an enormous creature with two bodies on one wheel. It towered over them with two sword arms about to slash them in half. Lucario instinctively leaped through the window toward them. Snake followed and he and the aura pokémon landed beside the group.

"We're here to help," Lucario announced. The fox had one hand over the side of a headset it was wearing. It gave a quick nod and talked into the microphone in a young male voice.

"Copy that. Falco, I got back-up. Over." The fox aimed his gun at the big monster. An airplane of sorts whizzed by above and a blue bird much like the fox landed next to group and grabbed its gun.

"Not without me, you don't got back-up. Don't hog all the fun, Fox." The bird talked back.

"Falco, what makes you think this is fun?" Fox questioned before the two-faced monster roared. It spun around to show its other body. This one's arms were guns instead of swords. It aimed one cannon at the group and fired a batch of missiles. The group scattered except for the princess who was caught off-guard. _'Damn!' _Lucario cursed and began to grow an aura sphere. He slid in front of the blonde princess and hurled the ball of energy into a missile. The missile exploded, taking out a couple with it but another emerged quickly from the cloud of smoke. Lucario swiveled around the woman, swept her off her feet and jumped out of the way. Fox and the bird named Falco open fired at the monster while the ninja and Snake did close combat.

"Sorry!" the princess apologized in Lucario's arms. He set her down gently then rejoined the fray. His fists and feet flashed with aura as he jump-kicked the massive creature. Fox came up beside Lucario and started to kick the wheel of the two-faced monstrosity. Fox then slid back and cupped his hands together, motioning for Lucario with his head. Lucario leaped back into Fox's hands and Fox threw him high into the air. The pokémon charged up another aura sphere. The monster fired its own shots at the fighters below. Everyone got next to Fox and Falco who both grabbed a hexagonal shape from their belts. They both held theirs forward. The shapes began to glow and shot out two light blue hexagonal shields that reflected the monster's blasts. Lucario had fallen level to the monster's heads. He hurled the powerful aura sphere right at the wheeled terror and hit it square in the face. The monster spun around for the sword side and roared. Lucario landed just as the monster began to charge for them. Everyone scattered again. The monster rushed past them and couldn't stop. It kept going forward, where the blonde princess was. _'Aaaargh' _Lucario bit his tongue and dashed to save her again. The pokémon picked her up as he passed and jump-kicked the enemy back. The monster jerked to a stop and began to melt back into dark particles. Lucario looked at the princess in his arms, annoyed.

"Do you get into trouble a lot?" He asked her as he placed her back on her feet.

"Define '_trouble'_." She answered vaguely as she smoothed out her pink dress.

"For instance… getting kidnapped?"

"Um, funny thing… I don't know how, but…yes."

"I wonder why…"

Suddenly, Meta Knight's voice came over on the loudspeaker.

"All o'you, get inside. I'm landing the Halberd!"

/

'_So. Many. People.' _Lucario looked around at the filled up hangar. Everyone was talking to each other about the past events, what they did, where they were going, and future plans. There were little groups of people congregating together around four different aircrafts. Lucario was in his own group of one. He felt like an outsider. He scanned over the crowd for someone he could talk to and spotted Meta Knight talking to three other people and Fox. The shortest one wore a space suit with a glowing red antenna. Another was a buff strong man in a blue jumpsuit and red-gold helmet. The last was wearing a big orange metal suit with a bluish-greenish gun for one arm.

"You HAVE to be KIDDING ME!" Meta Knight loudly pitched a fit. "I worked DAMN HARD to get this back! And YOU want ME to do WHAT?" The other four quietly tried to calm him down and Lucario decided against talking to him. He sighed and closed his eyes. Tiredness hit him like a hurricane.

"Puwaah- Umff-!" Lucario opened his eyes and look toward the sound. A young blond boy in a red-yellow striped shirt had tripped and was now trying to pick himself up. The pokémon went over and extended his paw to help.

"Are you alright?" he asked. The young boy wiped his eyes with one hand then accepted the help.

"Uh-huh," He answered shakily and looked up with watery blue eyes.

"Good." Lucario gave a small relieved smile. The blond boy gasped.

"T-Telepathy?" He asked, shocked. Lucario tilted his head, confused.

"Come to think, you look like the person Red said he met. But he didn't say you use telepathy."

"Red? You know Red?" Now Lucario sounded shocked.

"Whoa! Lucario! Haven't seen you in a while!" Lucario and the boy turned to the pokémon trainer who stepped up. "How ya been? Doin' good?"

"Yes." Lucario nodded. "I'm glad you're doing well too." The young blond boy took this opportunity to slowly make his way behind Red. He gripped onto Red's pant leg tightly. Red put one hand behind the boy's back.

"It's okay. Don't be scared," he encouraged the boy. "Lucario, this is Lucas. Lucas, say 'hi' to my friend here, Lucario."

"He-Hello," the boy named Lucas greeted sheepishly.

"There, see. Not so bad, right?" Red comforted the boy. Lucas looked up at Red.

"You didn't tell me he was psychic," he told the trainer.

"He's not. He's Fighting and Steel but, yeah, he uses telepathy to speak. I guess I'm just used to the different types. I've been to too many places," Red explained then turned back to the pokémon. "This is great! I bet Pikachu's just dying to see ya. I bet he-"

"LUCARIO!" A yellow flash bounded under Red's legs and up onto Lucario's shoulder. "I missed you!" Pikachu began rubbing her head against Lucario's cheek. Lucario couldn't hide his smile this time and patted Pikachu's head softly. Red gave an amused laugh.

"I knew he would miss you!" He laughed out. Lucario blinked and turned back to Red.

"Pikachu's a girl."

"WHAT? But, Dexter says it's a guy!"

"Don't always trust machines…"

Pikachu stopped rubbing and piped up, "It's great seeing you again. I'm gonna check on Samus. Don't disappear on me!" and then hopped off.

"I'm gonna go check on some of the people I was with. Great seein' ya!" Red said as well and walked toward a small group with Lucas close behind. Someone tapped Lucario's shoulder and he turned to face the blonde ninja that helped during the last battle. Her white scarf and hat hid all of her face except her eyes.

"I'd like to say thanks for saving Peach and I," she said. _'Peach? That must be the girl in pink,'_ Lucario thought. He nodded but closed his eyes and focused. _'So I wasn't imagining it. There __**are **__two.'_ Lucario could see the outline of the ninja's aura flicker like flames but there was another aura, like another soul, on the inside. Lucario opened his eyes and look straight at the ninja.

"You have two souls," he stated. The ninja's red eyes widened with surprise then closed slightly, amused.

"How observant," she said darkly. "Yes, two souls, one body. Can come in handy sometimes, hmm?"

"Sheik!" someone called out. The ninja looked up as a young swordsman in a green tunic ran up to her. He huffed a bit then straightened up with a look of pure relief washing across his face. The ninja, Sheik, half-closed her eyes, as if she were giving the swordsman a smile. Then she turned back to Lucario.

"I'll show you what you mean," Sheik said. She moved her hands out, then close together, light shining brilliantly from them. Then her entire body was encased in light. Lucario closed his eyes and focused to see what was happening. The woman's outer aura was withdrawing and the aura that was inside was coming out! The aura pokémon reopened his eyes in surprise while the green swordsman looked on unaffected, as if he'd seen the transformation many times in the past. The light died away, revealing the same brunette that was in one of the cages. She opened her pale blue eyes and gave a soft smile. Pikachu bounded back onto Lucario's shoulder and gave an awed gasp.

"I am Zelda, princess of the kingdom of Hyrule," the woman gave a formal introduction. Lucario graciously bowed.

"I am Lucario, aura guardian of Cameran Palace," the pokémon introduced himself the same way.

"Cameran Palace?" Pikachu broke in. "Red and I passed by a palace on the way to the big tree. Was that it?"

"Yes," Lucario answered solemnly. He knew what was coming.

"That place was old, broken, and abandoned. It looked like no one had been there in centuries. We explored all over it but there was nothing to find. Upstairs, down stairs, throne room, courtyard…"

"Was there a room in the corner of the courtyard?"

"Yeah, we went in it. Why?"

"What was inside? Were there artifacts?"

"No, none at all. It was just a small bedroom. Just a cupboard and a small bed."

Lucario looked away, unsure whether to feel glad or depressed. _'They… remade my room? After… they knew… I wasn't coming back?' _The aura pokémon blinked away surfacing tears.

"Oh, almost forgot the real reason I came over. I needed to tell you that Samus's preparations are almost done. Everyone needs to pick a ship and stick with it," Pikachu quickly said then bounded off again. Lucario relayed the message to Zelda and the swordsman.

"I see," Zelda said, and then nodded in understanding. She gestured toward the swordsman standing beside her. He had bronze blond hair and wore a green tunic and cap. Lucario just then noticed both he and Zelda had long pointed ears. The man wore blue earrings. Zelda patted the man's shoulder. Lucario extended one paw for a handshake. The man slowly and silently shook the pokémon's paw. Lucario could feel a strong, thankful feeling in the man's aura. He stared at the pokémon with wild, deep blue eyes. The silence was broken when someone called him over. The green swordsman averted his gaze and walked over to a young boy in white with wings. Zelda sighed.

"I'm sorry. His name is Link. He doesn't talk to anyone but me. Not even in our castle. He's just naturally quiet. I hope you can forgive him," the princess apologized for her friend.

"I do," Lucario assured her. She nodded and joined back with Link. Suddenly, Meta Knight's voice came over on the intercom.

"Everyone! Board your ship! Prepare for take-off in T minus 1 minute!"

Chaos erupted in the hangar as everyone scattered toward the four different aircrafts. The doors to them all opened and people began rushing everywhere to get aboard. Meta Knight himself flew down from the elevator shaft and flew into the purple falcon shaped ship. Lucario began to dash for an orange disk-like ship with a green front window until he heard a pained grunt. The young blond boy, Lucas had fallen again, finally showing his hidden exhaustion and pain. Lucario rushed over, helped him up and lead him to the orange ship, where Red appeared in the door. The person in the orange suit also appeared in the doorway as Lucario started to help Lucas aboard.

"Ma'am?" Lucario asked.

"How did-?" She began but stopped herself. "Sorry, I only have room for one more." Lucario nodded, nudged Lucas inside, and hopped down. The door closed and the ship began to hover in position. All the ships began to lift off the floor, their doors shut. Lucario rushed back over to the purple one, frightened. He could hear some pounding on the inside of the ship. The side door slid open and Link bent down, extending his hand. The Halberd shuttered and an explosion happened deeper within the hangar. The aura pokémon jumped as high as he could and reached. Miss. The young angel that called Link over earlier glanced down then toward the front of the ship shouting something. The purple ship lowered slightly and Lucario jumped again. Another miss. Link reached farther and the angel shouted something again. Fire erupted from the elevator shaft and the Halberd gave a violent jerk. The ship lowered further. Lucario leaped up one last time and reached his paw out. _'I don't want to be left behind!' _He screamed in his head. The same despair he felt back in the empty world of light filled his heart until Link caught his outstretched paw and pulled him in. Zelda and the angel pushed the door closed and the ship gave heaved forward. Link and Lucario gasped for breath.

"Thank…you…" The pokémon said between breaths. The green swordsman slumped against the side of the ship.

"…You're welcome…" Link breathed out. Zelda spun around, shocked, but filled with joy. The angel bent over Link and patted his head a couple of times. Then he bent down beside Lucario.

"Are you alright? Man, I'm sorry. That did not look good. That would've been horrible if we left you behind! I was afraid Captain wasn't gonna lower the ship low enough. He was just barely willing to open the door again. I heard you're Lucario. I'm Pit. You okay? Anything else besides catching your breath? You have spikes on your paws! And one on your chest too! Do they hurt? Are they real? What happens if someone hugs you? Will it poke them? Can I give you a hug?" the angel worriedly chattered.

"Someone tell Angel Face to shut up so I can drive!" the driver called out in front of a seated group, through clenched teeth. Pit stuck his tongue out toward him and turned back to the pokémon.

"…Yes…Yes…Don't know…Yes…No…" Lucario answered between breaths. He tried to stand up as well as Link. Then the ship lurched to the side, then up, then down, then to the side again. Link steadied himself and caught Zelda as she tripped. Lucario gripped a handrail on the wall and Pit wobbled. In a panic, Pit wrapped his arms around the aura pokémon to steady himself.

"You get one anyway…" Pit whispered as the ship continued its jerky movements. Lucario grabbed one of Pit's hands and placed them on the handrail so he could inch toward the back of the ship. Meta Knight sat limply and dejectedly in the back corner below a porthole. Lucario carefully made his way to the window, peered out, and gasped. In the distance, slowly getting smaller, the remains of the Halberd slowly fell into the water below. An enormous cloud of smoke lingered in the air and traced a small path from where the mighty airship had come from. A smoldering hole burned where the masked prow should have been. All but one of the bat wings had burned off, broken off, or fallen completely into pieces. Time seemed to have slowed for the battleship as it slowly but surely fell to the ocean and began to sink. Lucario bent down beside the masked warrior and shook him.

"Meta Knight… Meta Knight!" He insistently whispered.

"Mmm…" the masked warrior grunted miserably.

"Meta Knight! Why? You worked so hard to get that ship back. Now you leave it behind? Why?" Lucario knew the answer in the back of his head but he didn't want to accept it. Not after what he had to do then, before his revival. Meta Knight's blue-tinted eyes were half-open and looking down. It took him a couple of seconds to finally speak up.

"Sometimes… sacrifices… must be made… for the good of many…" Then the masked warrior covered his visor with his hands and sighed. Lucario stayed beside his depressed friend until the light died away outside as the ship entered the dark, other space. The pokémon put one paw over his chest spike and made a small flash of aura around it. He understood perfectly. It was an unfairness that Lucario knew all too well.

_**(How'd you like it? Was it alright? Remember to leave a review telling me how I did so, if anything, I can improve. The prologue's almost over *squeal with delight*. **_

_**Again, I do try my best to research a character's past and get it as precise as possible. If I got a game fact off, tell me so I can look back and fix my mistakes. Thank you so much!)**_


	6. Prologue 6: A New Life

_**(Hey there! This is Xybur7. Sorry, I didn't feel so good about this prologue, probably because I was rushing to get to the main storyline. But, hey, that means I get to go the the main storyline. Thank you for taking the time to read my story. Your support is all the motivation I need.**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything in the story. Any and all characters/places/objects belong to their respectful owners.)**_

Prologue 6: A New Life

A light flashed and Link came to. He sat up and held his head. _'Oww, what… just happened?_ _Wait! We're in Subspace!_ Link stood up abruptly and looked around him. Darkness surrounded the green warrior but for brief flashes of red and purple lightning. He stood alone in the vastness of the other space. _What __**did **__happen? _

_The purple falcon ship landed and everyone unloaded. It was time. The group proceeded with courage to the mastermind's lair within the dark nothingness. Together, with strength combined, they could defeat anything! But then, when they made it, the Master Hand lay limp on the ground, dead. Above it was a blue cyber figure of a man sickly smiling at the corpse. A disk-like object pulsed within his chest. The man summoned great tattoo wings and unleashed his god-like power. Red rings of destruction crashed into every one of the heroes, turning them into collectable trophies of war, rendering them powerless. The rings hit the green swordsman and everything went dark._

The memory started to merge into another, unfamiliar one.

_Three people and a horse stood in a beautiful spring. The young blonde girl stroked the chestnut horse gently and talked to the brown haired teen. A young blond boy stood close by calmly. They were happy and calm until the thundering of hooves sounded right outside the spring. Monstrous goblins atop enormous boars charged into the waters. Panic filled the three children and the horse broke away and ran in fear. The girl fell to an arrow and the young boy was scooped up by one of the monsters. The teenager started to run to them. Then pain exploded in the back of his head. He fell into the water, unable to do a thing. The sky turned red and orange then faded to black._

Link slapped his head. _'What is __**wrong **__with me?' _he thought. _'Focus!' _Link began to dash through the dark space, looking for familiar faces. He spotted Zelda coming to and ran to her side quickly.

"Zelda! Are you-?" he began.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine! We need find everyone," Zelda said sternly. _'Always focused, as wise as a true leader…' _Link smiled. They traveled further, toward a faint blue-purple light. The light belonged to Lucario, using his aura as a torch. One quick nod and the pokémon joined their group. They traveled deeper and deeper into the subspace. Then Link gasped. Zelda and Lucario stopped.

"Pit!" Link shouted into the darkness. His trusty guide was missing. He ran ahead and shouted the name again, hoping for a response.

"The angel?" Zelda asked. Lucario closed his eyes and the ribbons on the back of his head rose. He dashed up to Link and pointed with his paw.

"This way," the pokémon said and led the way. Farther ahead, Pit laid face-down on the ground, unmoving. The group rushed over. Link picked up the limp angel. Pit groaned. Lucario stood watch as Zelda bent down.

"Are you injured?" she inquired.

"Ugh, no" Pit groaned out. "This place is full of dark energy… and, well… let's just say light and dark don't mix. Ugh, I feel sick. Kinda hurts but I'll be okay."

"He's hiding in there." Lucario was looking at a huge collection of orbs. The spheres were packed together into a bigger sphere but each sphere showed a vision of a consumed world. _'A world made of worlds…' _Link remembered. _'The prophecy is coming to pass.' _The green swordsman helped the angel stand and looked to the base of glowing stairs leading to the new world. A dark skinned, red-haired man lay as a frozen trophy beside the staircase. Zelda and Link walked over to him, looked at each other, and nodded. Zelda tapped the base of the trophy and the dark armored man revived.

"Ganondorf…" Link fiercely hissed under his breath. _'I hate saving him, but we need as much help as we can get,' _he thought then pointed up toward the many spheres.

"Ganondorf, we're going there," Zelda said sternly again. "Come if you wish. Just know that that's where the true enemy lies." Link waved to Lucario and Pit and the group started up to the entrance to the Great Maze.

/

"Here we are," Zelda announced. Before them was an open rift in the dark subspace. The doorway open slowly at first, then faster and a pale blue light poured out. It was shaped like a pointed oval, like a demon eye watching them. More and more groups of heroes joined at the entrance to the final battle. Link noticed Lucario looking back and forth worriedly. His mouth began to form a question until the excited electric mouse from the ship bounded out of the crowd.

"Chu ka pi chu!" It squeaked with joy. It bounced onto Lucario's shoulder and rubbed its head against his cheek.

"Ku pi chaaaaaa!" It made a high noise, like a mix between a whine and a purr. Link smiled as Lucario patted the yellow pokémon's head.

"Yes, I'm okay, Pikachu," Lucario kindly said. He sounded tired and apprehensive. Their final battle lay beyond the rift. Mario waved his arm forward as the sign and the heroes moved in. In the air, the blue man hovered menacingly. He made a small frown at the group.

"You mortals are back again." The man spoke in a deep male voice that reverberated throughout the space. Its sound rumbled through the ground and through the body and blood of every hero. Link stiffened. '_This… thing is to be feared.' _Link thought. The rest of the group was awed and silent and terrified.

"You all have no place in my world," the blue man continued. "You have no right to bring yourself to my plane, the plane of divines. I am immortal, yet you foolish little pests think you can stand up to me? Let this be your final mistake." He opened the tattoo wings again. Pit grasped Link's hand and Zelda gently held his other. _'They don't think we're gonna make it… We're not gonna make it…' _Link realized. He glanced over to the pokémon team. Lucario had brought Pikachu down and was hugging it against his chest while raising protective arm in front of the pokémon trainer. _'No one thinks we're gonna survive!' _The last seconds of doubt washed over the young man's mind. _'No one can see a way. I can't see a way. No one can do this. I can't do this. I can't do this. I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm not brave.' _The hand Pit was grasping started to glow dully. Link closed his eyes and braced for the worst.

CRASH! Something shattered. Everyone looked up in amazement as a darker blue streak bulleted through one wing like glass. A spinning blue ball spun around and broke through the other one. The blue ball landed on a ledge and spun on one red-shoed foot. A blue hedgehog held out one finger at the man and waved it side to side.

"What-a took-a you so-a long, Sonic!" Mario snapped.

"Heroes always arrive at the last minute," the blue hedgehog answered cockily. The group gave an exasperated groan then leaped into battle. It was now or never. Link, Meta Knight, and two other blue-haired swordsmen dashed forward to the blue cyber-man. They jumped and slashed upward. They ripped the man's legs like claws and the man flew higher and grunted in pain and surprise. The cyber man quickly looked up into Zelda's fire ball, Lucas's ice ball and another young boy's pulse ball. All of them connected and exploded in the man's face. The man flew even higher and grimaced. He obviously did not expect such resistance.

Zelda shouted "Din's fire!" and threw another fire ball at the blue man. The blue man smacked it away. Lucas tugged on the other young boy's shirt sleeve and whispered "Ness?" The young boy nodded and both boys focused psychic power in their fingertips. Sparks flew from both of them.

"PK Thunder!" they shouted together and shot two balls of electricity at the man. The man also swatted them away. All the heroes converged on the cyber blue man. The man blocked most attacks and even threw some of them in the air. The man was strong. He unleashed the red rings again and the group bunkered down against the ground. It wasn't strong enough to knock them out! The group was winning. The battle pressed on. The man slowly but surely grew weaker and tired. But so was the group. The man lashed out with his arm, knocking out a blue turtle-like pokémon.

"Who do you _heroes _think you are?" He sneered.

"Who do **you** think **you **are?" the pokémon trainer countered, withdrawing his pokémon.

The man chuckled. "I am so high above your mortal plane, it is a taboo to speak my name. You will never comprehend my **true** power."

"Then-a why-a don't you show it!" Mario put his hands together. "Time-a for the FINALE!" Mario unleashed a fire storm from the palm of his hand. Lucario punched the ground, lifted his paws up and fired an enormous beam of aura. Everyone used the last bit of strength for one final smash. Zelda fired an arrow of light that hit the man square in the chest. He couldn't escape the pummeling. The blue man made one last attempt to get out and recover. Link saw it coming. _Great_ _goddesses above, lend me strength!_ Link let his marked hand guide him. It pointed right at the man. A beam of light shot out and encased the blue man in a triangle pyramid of light. Link himself shot forward and unleashed a flurry of slashes.

"**You** are a taboo. In this world, you don't belong," Link muttered under his breath. He pulled his sword to the side and gripped it with both hands. The Triforce shined brighter on his hand and he swung his sword. The sword hit the cursed man's chest and went through to the disk-shape inside. The man howled in pain. Sparks flew everywhere. Red and violet lightning struck all over the place and the ground shook as if the world was collapsing in on itself. Holes started ripping in the space and light poured through. A giant hole opened below the large group and they all screamed in surprise as they began their descent. Everyone landed on the cliff below and looked up to watch the last bit of Subspace fade away and disappear and the sun peeked out from below the horizon.

Everyone was silent at first. Then cheers and shouts rang out from the heroes. Their trek was over. They had won. People were singing and doing little dances. Pit tapped Link on the shoulder and held up two fingers like a 'V'.

"Victory! Man, I thought we were done for, for a second," Pit exclaimed. "I mean, did you see that? Big bad scary Tabuu was all like 'I'm gonna _KEEL _you' and we were like 'Oh noes!' then VOOM, VOOM, that blue thing came in and in my head, I went 'Phew' then we totally kicked his big blue butt!" Link looked a little confused.

Pit, yet again, translated. "Cool name I gave him, huh? Tabuu. I think it suits him, NOW THAT YOU'RE GONE YA JERK! Nyah- nyah! Oh, and that awesome thing you did with the light and the pyramid and you with your sword. You were totally like 'SLICETY SLICE! DICETY DICE! STABBITY STAB STAB STAB STAB!' Then you went like 'Hey, batta batta batta batta batta SA-WING!' DUDE, that was AWESOME!" Link stared at the bouncy angel. The swordsman's shoulders started shuddering. When he couldn't contain it any longer, he let it out: a laugh of pure joy. Link bent over and laughed at Pit's enthusiasm as the angel bounced up and down more.

"Holy cow, I got you to laugh! I finally got you to laugh! YESSSSSS!" Pit made fists and punched the air.

"Ahahahaha- hahaha," Link laughed. "…You're really funny, Pit…" Pit's sky blue eyes bulged at Link's response.

"I got you to **TALK** to me too? Yeah, baby! I'm on a roll!" Pit held up his hands like he was playing a guitar and rocked out. Link laughed a little more at the angel's insane victory poses when Zelda also tapped his shoulder. He turned to her and faltered when she hugged him.

"I'm so proud of you…" She praised. "You learned to open up." Link gratefully returned the hug. His quest was over. In his head, vague female voices sounded, '_…End… the cycle…' _Zelda got out of the hug to congratulate Pit but stopped, came back, and pecked Link on the cheek before going back to the angel. Link gently touched the spot, a little shocked but definitely happy. It was as if the entire world was celebrating. The green swordsman scanned the cheerful crowd. The two blue-haired swordsmen were high-fiving each other. Mario, his brother, his princess, Kirby, and Zelda were talking. Pit was chatting around Lucas, Ness and the pokémon team. The pokémon trainer had all his pokémon out and Pikachu had jumped up on Lucario's shoulder and was gesturing to the other pokémon. Everyone was still excitedly chatting, dancing, and hugging each other. All but one.

Lucario was ignoring the conversations around him and was simply staring off into the distance, toward the sunrise. He wasn't as overly excited as everyone else. Instead, he had a look of calm and peace as the rising sunlight glittered like gold in his amber eyes. He put one paw over his chest spike and continued to just stare into the sunrise, as if in deep thought. Link shared those feelings of peace. Everything was fixed. Everything was as it should be. As the world cried with joy, the young Hylian hero turned to face a new dawn.

_**(So, how about that. All the prologues are over. Now the real fun will begin. Hope you've enjoyed it so far, because there's a lot more stuff ahead... If I can beat the Writer's Block. Damn, stupid wall. I know where I want my story to go, so don't worry about that. I will try to get Chapter 1 out ASAP.  
Again, thanks so much for continuing to read my story. Your reviews and your support mean a lot to me.**_

_**Thanks!)**_


	7. Chapter 1: Calm Before the Storm

_**(Hey! This is Xybur7. I finally get to start on the real story! Yay! but that probably means I'm gonna be making a lot of enemies... Joy... You'll see what I mean. Thanks for taking the time to read my story. Your support is greatly appreciated.**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own ANYTHING in this story (but the plot! Finally!) Any and all characters/places/objects belong to their respectful owners.)**_

Chapter 1: Calm Before the Storm

The sun hung in the middle of the sky. Link breathed in the crisp forest air. Close behind him was a large castle with a mushroom flag waving high above it. The day was calm and peaceful as the green swordsman walked. He stared straight ahead, his eyes focused on some nonexistent thing in the distance. He kept mulling over scenes and words in his head as he pressed on through the light wood.

"… _**End… the cycle…"**_

'_End… the cycle? What the heck does that mean?' _Link thought as he strolled calmly down the path. Then he stopped and listened to the wind. The leaves of the trees rustled softly. Link glanced behind his shoulder at the trees. Slowly and carefully, he readied his bow and notched an arrow. Another breeze blew past and the leaves fluttered again. Link focused and released the arrow into the top of the tree. Something shook the tree violently then crashed through the branches. A young winged boy in white landed face-down into the dirt with a thud. He pulled himself up to sit and rubbed his cheek, flinching with pain.

"Ach-ch-ch-ouch. Link!" He whined. "Why'd ya shoot me?"

"Stop following me, Pit," Link ordered as he put away his bow.

"Well, why not? You're so solitary! I just wanna know where you're goin'." Pit stood up, brushed himself off, and picked some leaves out of his chestnut hair.

"You want to know?"

"Yeah."

"You **need **to know?"

"Yeah."

Link turned and continued down the path. Pit jumped and rushed up beside him.

"Come on, now, why won't you tell me?" Pit complained. Link gave him a quick look then focused straight ahead again.

"I don't have an answer."

Pit put one finger across his lips and thought for a second.

"Caaaaaan I come with you?" He asked and grinned. Link stopped, sighed, and turned to Pit and pointed at the castle.

"Peach is having a party. You're invited. I know you like to have fun! So go to the party! Why do want to come with me on some random little walk when you could be having a blast over there?" Link asked. Pit looked down sullenly and pressed both his index fingers together.

"Well…" He began. "I… don't think people like me…"

"It's 'cause you talk a lot, Pit."

"Yeah, but… Even so… I know I do talk a little too much sometimes… But nobody pays me any mind. I get ignored too often." Pit lowered his voice to a whisper as if talking to himself. "-And you're the only one who ever listens to me…" Link sighed again. He couldn't help but feel sorry for the angel. He gave a nod and turned to go. Pit punched the air with delight and kept up with the swordsman.

"Soooooooo," Pit started. "Where are we going? Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha been doin'? What's on your mind? Whatcha- whoa, hey what's wrong?" Pit cut the chatter when he sensed something was up. Link was staring down at the ground hard like he was trying to sort things out. Link kept very quiet for a few more seconds then looked back up at his friend.

"I've been having… weird flashbacks."

"Define weird."

"Like… they're not my own. I would know if they were. I'm leaving so I can find… **something **that might help me out."

"Soooooo, you're going insane in the brain and you want a cure."

Link gave Pit an unimpressed look. Pit raised his hands in surrender. Link just scratched his head with his left hand. _'Aaai, Pit…' _he thought.

"Might it hafta do with the mark on your hand?" Pit asked. Link stopped scratching and brought down his hand to look at. Link tensed his hand and the glowing mark appeared: three golden triangles making a larger one with the left-most triangle glowing the brightest. "What was it again that you called it?" Pit continued.

"Triforce of Courage," Link answered.

"**Tri-**force? There are three?"

"Yes, there are three parts to the Triforce. Each piece represents something different: Power, Wisdom, and Courage. I have the Courage part. Zelda has Wisdom."

"Who has-?"

"Not gonna talk about it."

"Okay! Okay! Back to the matter at hand…"

Link stared annoyingly. Pit blinked a few times, and then quickly waved his hands back and forth.

"I- I didn't m- mean a- a pun!" he stuttered then calmed down. "All I'm sayin' is that you kinda need something or someone to help you think, right?"

"Right." Link agreed. He could still hear the many female voices in his head.

"_**Connection… must break… End… the cycle… One… life… gone… No more… Shouldn't… alive… Souls… gone… break… End… the cycle…"**_

'_Maybe Pit's right,' _Link thought, depressed. _'Maybe I am just going crazy.'_

Pit had started to chatter. "Maybe we could get you some 'R' and 'R' in a hot spring. Aw yeah, hot spring, I can feel it now. So warm and nice… Yeah, and you could follow my steps! Step 1: deep breaths. Step 2: clear the mind. Step 3: remove pa- WHOA now, I need to focus! How about training? Meditation? That might help. Hey, maybe we could track down Lucario! That guy's a perfect meditation instructor. He does it all the time! Like those old martial art teachers. 'Cept he's more useful 'cause he doesn't sit around all day and spout gibberish like 'Just focus and it'll come,' or 'You're too young to understand,' ugh, I can't STAND it when they say that. Then those geezers like to go off on little tangents like 'I will teach you. Sit down, young green grasshopper. Focus on the leaf. The leaf is green. You are green. You are the leaf. Now watch as the little leaf floats on the wind. FWOOOSH!'"

Link ignored Pit's tangent. "Lucario could be anywhere. I doubt we can find him. It's already been half a year." Pit stopped abruptly and looked up at the sky forlornly.

"…Half a year…" the angel sighed then perked up again. "Stop being pessimistic! We can give it a try!"

Link gave a little laugh. "Heh, you're right, you're right." He looked up toward the glacier in the far distance. "Wonder what he's doing right now…"

/

"Come on, guys! One more time! **Let's go! TRIPLE FINISH!**"

Charizard, Ivysaur, and Squirtle built up their energy and their auras flared. Squirtle stood in front and opened his mouth for a massive water attack. Ivysaur, right behind Squirtle, leaned to aim his bud forward as well. Charizard, in the back, opened his mouth to spout mighty flames. Their power flashed for an instant, then dwindled. Squirtle spat out a feeble Water Gun, Ivysaur tripped and Charizard choked and coughed out a cinder that fell on to Ivysaur's head. Ivysaur shrieked and started rolling around to put the little fire out. Red just pinched the bridge of his nose and rubbed his face in exasperation. The trainer breathed deeply as Lucario arrived at the clearing.

"Master, I've completed my dodging exercises," the aura pokémon announced to Red. Red turned tiredly.

"Haaa… Lucario… I've told you **not **to call me that. I have a name. You know it. It's Red. Not 'Master.' I'm not even your trainer!" Red sighed as if he had said it many times already.

"But, 'Master' is the proper way to address one who oversees others' training." Lucario answered back.

"I still have a name! It's Red. Reeeeeeed! So call me Reeeeeeed!"

"Master."

"Red."

"Master."

"Red!"

"Master."

"RED!"

"…Master Red…"

The trainer screamed and grabbed his hair in frustration.

"I did some training," Lucario continued, "and completed it. What should I do now?"

Red pondered a bit while Ivysaur rubbed his head in the ground and cursed at Charizard who slumped over with shame. Red snapped his fingers.

"How about some meditation?" Red suggested. "The fighting style you do requires lots of focus. You could even, like, cleanse your soul while doing it too. I know we're near a waterfall of sorts so… Yeah! Try that. It's to help focus the mind and also kinda like a test of endurance. Waterfall meditation should be perfect for you."

"Thank you, Master." Lucario bowed respectfully and started to head out again slowly.

"You frikin' stubborn…" Red grumbled. "Darn it! Stop calling me 'Master'!"

"Heh heh, _Master_," Squirtle taunted. Red pointed at him without looking.

"I don't need a translator for that, Squirtle," the annoyed trainer spat. "Back to work you three!" The shouts from the training site grew quieter as Lucario hopped over the treetops, searching for the waterfall. He kept a little smile for himself. He liked staying with Red and the other pokémon. He enjoyed their routine that kept them all busy. With a trainer like that, he always had direction, another goal to reach. Lucario perked his ears and leaped further. The sound of rushing water grew louder. The aura pokémon slid to a halt at the base of the waterfall. Clear water poured over the small cliff and made mist on the rocks. Lucario's orange eyes scanned the base for a good spot to sit. He spotted a semi-flat rock off to the edge of the base and nodded. _'That'll do,' _he thought. He hopped over to it and rubbed it with his paw to check the slipperiness as the cold water poured down. When he was content, he eased himself down and sat crossed-legged.

Pure, frigid water rushed on top of his head and soaked him. Lucario probed the world with his mind's eye. Auras of trees, rocks, and people glowed everywhere. Every bird in the sky, every fish in the water, even every pebble on the ground shined for Lucario to see. He took deep breaths and focused. Suddenly, there was a slight tingly feeling in the rushing water. Lucario moved his praying paws slightly upwards. A bright, electrifying ball of aura peeked from over a shallow, but still strong, part of the waterfall. It shook a little, and then silently jumped off and started falling for the aura pokémon. The ball got closer from above, and closer. At the last second, Lucario swiftly lifted up his paws and caught the static ball of aura above his head, making a tiny, little umbrella out of it before moving it in front of him. He half-opened his eyes and annoyingly stared at the squirming Pikachu in his paws.

"Aaaawww," she whined. "I can never sneak up on you… Pooey."

Lucario cocked his head a little. "Pikachu, think about it. What would happen if I **didn't **catch you this time?" Pikachu gave a sparky smile.

"But'chu always catch me!" she answered cheerfully. "Can I keep you company?"

"You wouldn't leave if I told you to."

"Nope!"

"Guess I have no choice…" Lucario loosened his hold. Pikachu jumped into his lap instead of his shoulder for fear of getting pummeled by the water. Lucario put his paws back together above her, making her a little tent.

"You always have a choice!" she piped. "It's boring at camp and the training site. Squirt, Ivy, and Spitfire are real slackers. I can't stand to watch 'em or when Red tells 'em off." Her voice grew quieter as she grumbled, "they deserve it, though."

"Mmm," Lucario grunted in agreement as he closed his eyes again. There was a moment of silence between them, pervaded only by the water crashing onto the rocks.

"I'm surprised you haven't decided to leave again," Pikachu said, attempting to make small-talk.

"No, I'm not going to leave," Lucario assured.

"What? Having too much fun?" the electric pokémon teased. Lucario gave a short chuckle and fell silent again. He could sense the flustered Pikachu pouting at the lack of response. His face felt warm and he looked up to let the cold water rush over it. Lucario felt Pikachu's interested stare as he tried to meditate with her in his lap.

"Hey… Lucario?" Pikachu started again.

"Mmm?" He grunted.

"I've seen you do that a lot, where you have your eyes shut but you move your head like you're looking around."

"Mm-hmm?"

"When you close your eyes… what do you see?"

Lucario's mind's eye was wandering. He could see all the way to the farthest reaches of the horizon. A cluster of people at a distant castle. The trees of a forest waving in the wind. His mind's eye traveled closer and could see the group of pokémon still trying their best, their auras flaring then dwindling. A human figure directed them, and then started heading away to the far off camp, its aura somewhat faded and tired. The mind's eye came closer, to the aura pokémon himself and the little, yellow mouse with him. Its range was far and boundaries, nonexistent. Lucario smiled to himself, proud of the power he bought through his hard work and self-discipline. He lowered his paws a little over Pikachu's head and puffed his chest out slightly.

"Pikachu…" he whispered at first, then raised his voice for her to hear. "I can see the world." Pikachu exhaled slowly, awed and silent. Lucario's face flushed with warmth and he tilted his head up again, into the falling water. It was true. The entire world was open and glowing just for him to see.

Suddenly, something flashed in Lucario's aura sight. He gasped and looked around. Something was wrong. Something… went away. Pikachu gave a confused grunt and tilted her head. _'Did… an aura just… __**disappear**__?' _Lucario thought. Something flashed away in another direction. Lucario picked up Pikachu and jumped out from under the waterfall.

"Lucario! What's wrong?" she asked, worried.

"Someone just-" Lucario began. Another aura vanished in an instant above them, in the sky. Lucario looked up quickly. He surveyed the areas where the disappearances happened. He could sense others there but the original aura that was there was now gone, as if it never existed.

"People just- Auras just vanished!" Lucario got out.

"People died?" Pikachu gasped.

"No. Aura is the essence of life and a part of everything. Even if someone dies, their aura still lingers. It doesn't just vanish!" Lucario breathed hard. _'This has __**never **__happened before!'_

"Then-" Pikachu tried to understand. "Then… what does it-?"

"AAAAAAAH!" A scream sounded in the distance and echoed through the forest. Pikachu bounded onto Lucario's shoulder in a panic and twitched her ears at the sound.

"That scream! That was Red!" Electricity started sparking from her cheeks. Lucario used his aura sight to quickly home in on the trainer's aura. He could see Red, cornered against a tree, facing off with a warped humanoid aura. Red jumped up and broke off a large branch of the tree and held it in front of him as a weapon. The other pokémons' auras were still far off in the training area. _'No one's with him!'_

"Hold on!" Lucario ordered Pikachu and took off, keeping his mind's eye on Red. The humanoid figure took a few steps forward while Red's aura twisted with the fear of a cornered rat. He ran up and slammed the malicious aura on the head, hard enough to snap the branch in half. The hit failed to stall it and it promptly punched Red in the stomach. Red stumbled backward and the figure tackled him to the ground and started to choke him.

"Master!" Lucario gasped in fear and surprise as he leaped and bounded over the trees.

"What's going on?" Pikachu demanded as she hung on for dear life. _'Please!' _Lucario pleaded. _'Hang on! We're coming!' _Red was flailing. In a last ditch effort, Red put his feet together and kicked the attacker backwards. It lost its grip and stumbled back. Red dragged himself up against the tree and slumped over, exhausted. He turned to run but the figure regained its balanced and caught a hold of Red's backpack, stopping the teen in his tracks. Red squirmed, trying to take off his backpack and started to scream again.

"HEL-!" WHACK! The figure smacked the back of Red's head hard enough for Pikachu and Lucario to hear from far away. Lucario watched Red's aura shrink away as the trainer slowly crumpled to the ground and lay unmoving. Lucario's heart skipped a beat as he shouted in shock and horror.

"RED!"

_**(What's gonna happen? What's gonna happen? How'd I do? Was it good? Give me some feedback and leave me a review so I can make anything wrong right and anything good better. Thank you so much!)**_


	8. Chapter 2: Stone Cold

_**(Hey everyone. This is Xybur7. Guess what's better than suspense? More suspense! Heh heh heh, sometimes I feel sorry for these poor characters... maybe a little. Don't hate me! I do it for a reason! Thanks for putting up with me so far. The fact that you take the time to read my story is incredibly motivating for me. Thank you very much!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own ANYTHING but the plot. Any and all characters/places/objects belong to their respective owners.)**_

Chapter 2: Stone Cold

"RED!" Lucario screamed in horror.

"What's going on?" Pikachu shrieked. Red lay still on the ground, his aura barely visible. The humanoid figure pulled back its foot to kick the fallen teen. Lucario shot forward and kicked out. The aura pokémon flew through the brush and landed the kick in the figure's face. Lucario slid in front of the unmoving trainer as the figure slammed into the ground. Pikachu had jumped off and gotten close to Red's face.

"He's beaten up but still breathing," Pikachu told Lucario. Lucario breathed out with relief. _'Good…' _Pikachu took a step in front of Red and arched her back. Electricity sparked from her red cheeks.

"I'm gonna give this guy a piece a' my mind!" she growled and seethed. Lucario opened his eyes and tried to see through the dust. The figure rose up and wobbled for the wounded trainer. The sun glinted off its metal coat. _'That looks like a…' _Lucario realized. _'That's a-!'_

"Pikachu, stop! Don't shock it! It'll backfire!" he warned the electrified pokémon. She heeded his warning and stopped discharging. The figure stood up straighter and faced Lucario. Its entire body was covered in metal. And it looked familiar…

"It's… metal?" Pikachu gasped then gritted her teeth.

"It's a metal primid!" Lucario bared his fangs. "Anything you or I shoot at it will bounce back. Nothing can faze it. No wonder it didn't flinch when Master smacked it with the branch." The metal primid took a step forward. Lucario took a step toward it and growled fiercely.

"I'm- I'm useless!" Pikachu exclaimed ashamedly. Lucario waved one paw backwards.

"Stay by Red 'till he wakes," he ordered then slid in front of the trainer more. Pikachu nodded and retreated as Lucario grimaced. _'Damn, my aura attacks will barely dent this thing. I need to try and conserve my energy until the right time. But I can't let it get past me.'_ The primid lunged. Lucario roared and leaped. The primid punched out twice. Lucario ducked the first one and caught the second. He gripped the metal hand, swung the primid in a full circle, and threw it against a tree. The primid recovered and kicked off against a tree, breaking it in half like a twig. The metal monster swiped at Lucario after the pokémon swiftly jumped in to the air. He flipped once and when he was upright again, kicked downward twice. The primid was shoved to the ground. Lucario flipped over it again and landed with his back to Red and Pikachu. The metal primid slowly picked itself back up then rushed back at the pokémon, punching wildly. Lucario leaned back to avoid one swing and sidestepped a jab. Another punch swung in from his left. Lucario swiftly put up his arm as a guard. The punch clinked against the spike and Lucario pushed the metal arm away and shoved the metal primid back. Lucario heard mumbling behind him and turned to look. Red was semi-conscious and propped up on one arm. He held his stomach carefully and looked up to show his bruised, cut face.

"Lucar…ri…o…" he struggled to say. Lucario turned fully to Red.

"Re-!" The primid slammed downwards on the aura pokémon's head. Pain exploded and Lucario's sight flashed crimson as he also crumpled to the ground. His head throbbed violently and his vision blurred. As if curious, the metal primid grabbed Lucario's blue check-shaped tail and yanked. Pikachu squeaked and more fiery torture spread through the aura pokémon's tailbone and up his spine. The primid let go after one strong tug and approached the injured trainer. Pikachu hopped up and bared her little fangs, sparks flying from her cheeks while Red struggled to lift himself up. Lucario pulled his face from the ground and swiped at the primid's leg. He grabbed a hold of one foot and tripped the primid. The primid fell flat on its face.

"I'm your opponent!" Lucario snarled, then shouted. "Red! Pikachu! Get going!" Red was leaning against the tree, huffing and puffing and holding his stomach. The primid looked up and at Lucario, the sun glinting menacingly. Pikachu pushed Red's leg.

"Lucario's right! Go! Go! Move!" she squeaked and pushed harder. Red took the cue and began to limp away. Both Lucario and the primid picked themselves up and had at it again. _'My aura will reflect back.' _Lucario's gears were turning fast. _'But my attacks are __**not**__ doing much damage. This thing is strong! I nearly passed out!' _Lucario dodged a lunge and chopped the primid in the back of the head. The primid stumbled then looked up, right at the escaping trainer. The primid decided to lunge at Red. Lucario lunged forward as well. The primid pulled back its metal fist and punched. Red gasped and slipped down against another tree, ducking the punch. Lucario took the opportunity and hooked his arms underneath the primid's from behind and dragged it back.

"I said 'No'!" Lucario growled as he struggled to restrain the primid. Rustling bushes parted beside Red's tree and Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard burst into the scene. Ivysaur and Squirtle gasped and ran to Red's side while Charizard roared in anger. Charizard soared forward, clawed the ground, and scooped up a large rock. _'Rock Smash!' _Lucario recognized and held the squirming primid tighter and lifted it up. Charizard flew up in front, brought down the boulder on the primid's head, and head-butted the rock once into pieces. Rock Smash did nothing to stop it. The primid reached back and grabbed the aura pokémon's shoulder cuffs and hurled him over the orange dragon. Lucario recovered and landed on his feet in front of the semi-conscious teen. Ivysaur and Squirtle were worrying over their beloved trainer.

"Red!" Squirtle was crying. "Red! Wake up! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'll be good! I swear! Please wake up!"

"How dare it!" Ivysaur spat and glanced around. He spotted a patch of sunlight and bounded over into it. Ivysaur spun around and aimed the bud on his back, keeping his sight on the metal primid that Charizard was slashing and snapping at. Lucario turned back to the battle. Charizard was powerful, but slow. Lucario slipped behind the primid and hooked under its arms again. Charizard gave one good swing with his claws. The force pushed Lucario and the primid back a little. Lucario saw Squirtle looking back and forth between the battle and Ivysaur.

"Char-char!" Squirtle called. Charizard glanced behind and snarled.

"Some people don't like nicknames, Squirtle!" He roared. Squirtle ignored him and was jumping up and down, gesturing to Ivysaur.

"No! Ivy! Do like Ivy!" Then he withdrew into his shell and spun over to Ivysaur. Ivysaur's bud was glowing in the sunlight. Squirtle got in position in front of Ivysaur and sucked in as much air as possible. Charizard's wings flicked and his eyes narrowed.

"Can you hold 'em?" He asked Lucario.

"Hurry… up…" Lucario gritted his teeth and held the primid tight. Charizard soared over to the pokémon and landed behind the two. Charizard charged up a Fire Blast and Squirtle readied his Hydro Pump.

"Hurry… up!" Lucario got out as the primid continued to flail.

"Almost!" Ivysaur called out. "SolarBeam's… almost ready!"

"On your mark, Ivy!" Squirtle gurgled out. Lucario held the primid close, trying to keep it from getting free.

"Lucario! Get set!" Charizard warned. Lucario restrained the primid as best he could.

"EAT THIS!" Ivysaur roared, the bud on his back shining brilliantly. Lucario kneed the primid down and leaped out of the way. The bud opened slightly and Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard roared.

"**TRIPLE FINISH!**"

The primid was engulfed by flames, pushed back by water, and shot at by light. Hydro Pump, SolarBeam, and Fire Blast combined together to form an invincible beam of energy. Lucario could sense their auras were off the charts without resorting to his aura sight. The attack was overwhelming. The primid stumbled and jerked inside the heat of the beam. Slowly, the primid lost the power to move and melted to the ground. The pokémon cut off their attack and raised their voices in triumph. Lucario breathed out then sniffed the air.

_**1…**_

"There's static in the air," he announced. Storm clouds were starting to cover the area.

_**2…**_

"That's not me!" Pikachu claimed and shook her head. Red took a look up at the darkening sky.

_**3…**_

The trainer fiddled with his belt, pulled off three tiny pokéballs, and enlarged them.

_**4…**_

"Return!" He called. Three red lasers shot out from the spheres and touched each of the pokémon in the group of three. They cried out in surprise, then transported back into their respective pokéballs.

_**5…**_

A giant, purple lightning bolt shot from the sky at the spot the pokémon were and caused an explosion. Lucario covered Red and Pikachu, shielding them from the flying debris. They all coughed inside the cloud until the dust settled. The two pokémon took a peek over the edge of the newly made ditch. It was practically a cold stone crater now. They all stared in astonishment at what just happened. A slow rumble vibrated through the ground. The earth began to shake. The pokémon and the trainer huddled together in a protected group throughout the violent earthquake. Something broke and collapsed in the distance. Lucario looked up toward the sound, toward the distant castle with a mushroom flag. He brought Pikachu and Red closer and withstood the earthquake. Then, a massive bolt of violet lightning struck the castle. Lucario shivered as the echoing thunder marked the disappearance of another aura.

/

Link and Pit walked down the forest path. Something rustled in the bushes. Link stopped and shushed the angel. Both of them drew their bows and aimed at the same bush.

"Come out and you won't get hurt!" Pit called to it, his childish face turned serious. Nothing appeared.

"On the count of three!" Link warned. The bushes rustled some more but no one stood up.

"One… Tw-" Link gasped as pain exploded on the top of his head. He let go of his bow and arrow and grabbed his head. Some sort of fire shot up his spine now and he keeled over.

"Link?" Pit exclaimed then looked over and behind the cringing swordsman.

"Behind!" the angel realized and fired his little arrow of light at the enemy approaching Link from the back. Link glanced up and felt Pit's arrow go whizzing over his head, then bouncing back. Pit yipped and nearly fell over when he dodged the returning arrow. A metal-coated creature finally popped up from the bushes and rushed at Pit with a punch. The unsuspecting angel took a hit square in the back and slid along the ground. Link ignored his sudden pain and drew the Master Sword and shield. The humanoid metal thing leaped at Link and Link could hear the tapping of other footsteps behind him. The green swordsman balanced on one foot and spun his sword in a circle, slicing both enemies and pushing them back. Link roared a battle cry as he ran forward and tried to slash the metal enemy in half. The sword clinked off the metal armor. The metal monster drew back its arm and punched out. Link raised his shield and bashed it against the punch and the monster. The monster lost its balance and tripped backwards. Link jumped up into the air, sword raised, and plunged the sword into the metal monster's chest. The enemy flinched, fell limp, and melted. Link was about to yank the sword from the ground until the other enemy jumped on him from behind. Its legs squeezed the green swordsman's gut and its cold, metal hands wrapped around Link's throat. His left hand glowed as he struggled to shake the metal enemy off. He clawed at the hands frozen in place around his neck. _'I- can't- breathe!' _He screamed without a voice. Link fell onto the ground and could see the blurred outline of sandaled feet rushing toward him.

SHNK! Suddenly, the grip lessened as Pit plunged one of the blades of his bow far into the monster's back so the tip poked through the chest. The angel ripped it out and kicked the monster off the swordsman's back. The monster landed with a thud and melted into a little metal puddle and dissipated. Link gasped for breath as the angel helped him up.

"What… were… they?" Link asked.

"I don't know… Their punches were filled with dark energy… Ow, I can still feel it," Pit admitted. "Good thing you didn't. I may be susceptible, but I don't wanna see what it coulda done to you if that's how banged up your shield is." Link took a look at his Hylian shield. There was a humongous dent in the top right quarter.

"Good thing I had the shield then." Link straightened up and turned Pit around to look at his back. There was a gigantic bruise in the middle of Pit's back with a wide range of red surrounding it.

"Sssss," Link hissed. "That looks painful. We need to get you something for that."

"I'm okay now! Honestly. Honestly!"

"You may not be human, but you still need to get that looked at. It looks **bad**." Link walked over to his sword, drew it, and sheathed it. "Let's go-" Violet lightning flashed in a distant part of the forest, its impact so loud, the ground rumbled as thunder rolled.

"Wha- WHAT was THAT?" Pit squeaked. _'Something bad, no doubt,' _Link thought. The pair stood in shock for a few seconds. Then the ground started to shake. It shook harder and more violent. Link and Pit yelped, huddled close together, and to got low to the ground.

"UWAAAAH! I'm too young to die!" Pit screamed.

"You're already dead, Pit!" Link shouted out.

"Then- Then I'm too young to die again!" A loud crash came from close by. Pit, frightened, got lower and covered his head with his hands. Link patted the angel's shoulder and looked up toward the sound. The Mushroom Castle was crumbling bit by bit! _'That castle's not made to withstand quakes!'_ Link realized. The pair both looked up and gasped as another bolt of purple lightning struck the castle. The thunder was deafening and shook the two warriors to their bones. Slowly, the quake subsided and the two carefully picked themselves up.

"We need to go back…" Link muttered under his breath. _'That's Peach's castle. With Mario and Luigi, and DK and Diddy, and Lucas and Ness, and Zelda… Zelda!'_

"We need to go back!" he said again louder. "Come on, Pit!" Link took off back toward the mildly ruined castle. Pit sighed behind him.

"Metal monsters… Earthquakes… Purple lightning… Purple… Why purple?" he complained worriedly. "Why can't it be a regular yellow or blue? Or how 'bout pink or green for that matter? Why does evil, creepy stuff have to always be purple? This is bad. This is **so **bad." They rushed as fast as they can back to the castle. The drawbridge's chains had broken during the quake and so the pair dashed across and came to the locked, wide front doors. Link knocked loudly on the door.

"It's Link and Pit!" he called in. "What's going on? Please, let us in!" The door opened slowly. Mario and Luigi stood in the doorway, shaken and tearful. They gestured the two other warriors inside. Zelda stood a ways in the hallway, also startled and depressed.

"Zelda!" Link jogged up to her. _'At least she's okay, but what happened?'_

"…L-Link…" She chattered her teeth. _'I've never seen her this shaken up!' _

"Link!"

"Link-onii-chan!" Two young boys in striped shirts came up out of nowhere and hugged Link's legs.

"Lucas? Ness?" Link exclaimed. "What's going on? Calm down. Tell me what happened. Why's everyone so upset?"

Lucas tried to start through tears. "Princess- Princess…"

Ness tried to take over. "Peach-onee-chan… Onee-chan…" Pit came over and the kids cried and jumped to him. Link turned to the long table in the middle of the room. Some plates were broken and half-eaten peaches were strewn across the table. The room was littered with bricks and rocks that fell from the ceiling. Candles had been snuffed out and it seemed that the only light in the dark banquet room shined in through the hole in the ceiling. Peach stood in the center of the light, her eyes wide with fright, her mouth stopped in mid-scream. Her frozen arm was reaching out for something or someone. She was no trophy. She was a stone statue with no base beneath her feet.

_**(So, how'd you like it? Yeah, those who've played Subspace Emissary should know what the 'no base' means. Was it good or bad? Please, leave me a review so I can make my story better.**_

_**Also, here's a heads up. Link will have lots of flashbacks in this story. I'd like to know if I should add an author's note at the end of chapters with them to clarify where they come from and what they reference to. Go ahead and tell me if you want that or no. Thanks for your feedback!)**_


	9. Chapter 3: Things to Come

_**(Hey everyone! It's Xybur7! Here's Chapter 3! I have to say right now, I have this entire story planned from head to toe with almost everything in between... and I'm probably gonna make a lot of enemies... You'll know what I mean later.**_

_**Let's just say this: authors are the best and worst people in the world. They get in the head of their hereos... and their villians. A sick and twisted villian requires one to think about how sick and twisted he/she needs to be... Anyway, on that happy note...**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own anything but the plot. Any and all characters/places/objects belong to their repective owners.)**_

Chapter 3: Things to Come

Everyone sat, waiting in the throne room. There was nothing else they could do. They had cleaned up the banquet hall and carefully transported Peach's statue to a safer place. Fox inspected the statue, evidently worriedly. He had his scouter opened and data was pouring over it. Mario and Link stood by Fox as he carefully compared the statue to the incoming data.

"How's it lookin', Fox?" Falco's voice beeped through Fox's headset.

"No good, Falco," Fox answered then clicked the scouter in. "Okay, give me the story again, Mario. I'm still kinda confused."

Mario took a deep breath. "Okey-dokey… It-a was a party. Everyone-a was-a having fun. Princessa Peach called everyone-a to the table. Food-a came out. For-a dessert-a, Princessa had a special surprise. She used her-a magic, Peach-a Blossom, for us. After that-a… earth-a-quake… lightning… Princessa!" Mario started to cry like a baby. Link jerked back a little. _'Mario can save Peach when she's kidnapped… But when she's like this?' _he thought. _'What can we do?'_

"What I heard," Link tried to continue, "is that an earthquake started and half-broke the castle. During the earthquake, a purple lightning bolt came in and struck Peach, turning her to stone, like that." He gestured to Peach's statue.

"Purple… Lightning?" Fox repeated, surprised.

"What? Have you seen something like that?" Link asked.

"Well, yeah. In the Great Fox, we picked up a weird energy reading. Soon after that, we received a call from Samus asking if we could investigate the Island of Ancients."

"That floating island? Why there? And where is it? I can't see it over the waters anymore."

"Link. It **floats**. It's no wonder it moved."

"Oh… I knew that."

"Sure you did. It's really high up now, you can't see 'cuz it's above the first layer of clouds. Why there? I don't know. Samus asked… nicely, so I took the job."

Falco's voice came back on the headset. "Job? What job? Where's my dough? Did we get **paid **for this _job?_ No, I don't think so! You just decided to take up a favor to impress a hot chick. Trust me, I know a lot of chicks, but none of them are as –OH BABY- as Sexy Samus. Ya know what, Fox? I approve full-heartedly of that decision. You're learning how to loosen up without Kr-"

"Falco, shut up," Fox ordered sternly. Link could hear Falco gulp over the headset. "Anyway, I took the ground and let Falco scout the skies-"

"Yeah, ya jerk!" Falco came back on whining. "How'd **that **happen? I woulda been perfectly cool with drawin' lots and me comin' up short but NOOOOOO, you stuck me with patrol duty while you had all the fun! Talk about cheap. You go impress some woman and I get to fly around with nooooo one aroooouuund! Most boring frikin' thing ev-" Fox punched the side of his headset, shutting off the communicator and cutting Falco off.

"He's not going to be happy you did that…" Link whispered to the annoyed and frazzled Fox.

"He'll have to live with it." Fox gritted his teeth for a couple of seconds. "ANYWAY… I- I'm not very good at explanations… I guess I can't really explain it. I'll just show you. You have a computer or monitor I can borrow?"

"What do I look like, a prince? I don't live here. Ask Mario." Both fighters looked down at the still dramatically sobbing plumber. They sighed, snapped their fingers in his face, and asked the question.

"Uh, si. We-a have a computer. Right-a this-a way." Mario led Link and Fox out of the throne room, downstairs, and through another door. We've-a been-a building 'im for a while. We-a call 'im TEC-2..." Mario kept talking until they reached the room. When the final door opened, inside laid a massive computer with all sorts of buttons and lights. Mario pulled out a connector cable and Fox hooked it up with his headset.

"There's a camera in your headset?" Link asked confused.

Fox just looked at him blankly. "Of course. Why shouldn't there be?"

Link turned slightly red and averted his eyes to the screen. "Just asking…" The screen blinked and projected a first person view of the inside of the bomb factory on the island. The camera bobbed up and down as the person, presumably Fox, carefully made his way through the abandoned hallway. Falco's voice cracked over on the radio in the recording.

"Someone, tell me why I get to fly around while you get to play 'Solid Fox'?" It asked, annoyed.

"Because I said so. And don't make fun of our friend, Falco. He does his job well," Fox answered.

"Says you. Speaking of jobs…"

"I declined the payment."

"You WHAT?" Then, something made a clinking noise around the corner. Fox lifted his blaster.

"Stop whining and shut up for a sec, bird-brain. I think I found something."

"Whoopdee-flippin-doo."

Something humanoid and shiny slid in from around the corner. Fox fired a couple of red shots that hit the target right in the chest, and then bounced back. Fox gasped and the camera jerked around as he got hit by his own blasts.

Link pointed at the figure onscreen as the camera got close while the fox fought with it. "That's what attacked Pit and me out in the woods. I swear I've seen it somewhere before but my fight with it was too quick to identify."

"I wasn't paying enough attention and I was too surprised at the time, I didn't recognize it then." Fox bent forward toward the screen.

"It's-a been a while, but-a I remember!" Mario exclaimed. "That's a primid! A metal one!" All three kept their attention on the screen. The camera was bouncing wildly up and down and moving very fast through the hall after the primid melted away. The Fox wearing the camera behind the scenes panted hard. The recorded Fox started frantically opening the metal doors lining the hallway.

"What am I looking for? What's going on here? What was that thing?" he thought aloud.

"Don't ask me!" the radio exclaimed. "I'm not there kickin' butts! Go ask your new girlfriend what's up in there! I'm just- huh?"

"What's going on up there, Falco? Report."

"I'm doin' another fly-by… Are my eyes playin' tricks on me, or was that… a red Arwing in the middle of the courtyard?"

"Red Arwing… Wolfen! Crap! Whatever's here, I need to find it fast! Good job, Falco." The camera shifted to a cabinet on the side of the hall, full of motion-detector mines. Fox's hand swiped it and pressed on. After a couple more minutes Fox spoke again, impatiently, "Okay, that's it. Where's-" Suddenly, a door opened and another metal primid hopped out from it. Fox made a "Tch" sound and hurled the mine at the primid. The mine landed at the primid's feet and exploded, sending one primid through the roof and little drops of metal rain falling back down. Fox banged his blaster on the door.

"Locked…" he cursed then started messing with the control panel on the side.

"Then open it." Falco said.

"What do you think I'm doing? When I get this thing open, I'm grabbing whatever's in there and then me and you are getting the heck out!" A click sounded behind the camera and Fox froze in place.

"Can't let you do that, StarFox."

Fox lifted his hands away from the door but didn't turn while Falco slowly started laughing over the radio.

"That treasure's gonna be mine, McCloud, so back away like a good little pup."

"There's no treasure, you greedy cur," Fox snapped behind the camera and slowly turned around to have a bayonetted blaster to his face. An anthropomorphic gray wolf sneered at the camera. He wore a dark jumpsuit, a blue jacket, and dark purple fingerless gloves. He had a white strip of fur down the center of his head. His violet eyes narrowed at the camera.

"What makes ya think that? What are **you **here for, that energy signal? Whatever's behind that door is mine. So are you gonna take a step back? Or am I just gonna have to blast you face?" The wolf calmly threatened. The camera moved away from the wolf and let him at the door. The wolf gave the camera an annoyed look.

"Gimme some space!" he barked. The camera moved back a little further.

"There's nothing good back there…" Fox sighed and warned.

"Silence." The wolf finished inputting his code. The door beeped and slid opened.

Falco stopped giggling and joked, "Heeeeey, guys. If there's any crown jewels in there, save me some."

Both Fox and the wolf gasped. On screen, a black hole with a red circle border spat out another metal primid to join the hundreds of them in the room. All of them looked up at the two.

"Oh crap…" both Fox and the wolf said. The primids took a step for the door.

"Oh, CRAP!" the camera flashed away from the room and bobbled up and down through the hallway as Fox ran beside the wolf. Lots of clinking and clicking could be heard in the background, presumably, the primids in hot pursuit.

"You **had **to open the door, Wolf! You **had **to open the door!" Fox shouted.

"YOU were just ABOUT to before ME!" Wolf screeched back.

"Ya know," Falco came back on. "You coulda made Fox open the door, then kick him in as bait."

"Falco…" The three warrior's watching could hear the gritting of teeth. Wolf, on screen scoffed.

"If this pup's gonna die, I'm the one killin' him," he spat.

"Wow, thanks guys, I feel so loved," Fox stated in a monotone. The door leading out closed and locked. Wolf and Fox drew their blasters and shot the door down and bolted out into an open area. Metal primids poured out from the buildings. Wolf aimed his blaster.

"It'll bounce!" Fox warned. Wolf cursed, hooked his blaster to his belt, and crouched low. Fighting broke out everywhere. Wolf took his own group to tackle and Fox began to kick and dash through the enemies. Fox flipped backwards and used his reflector to shield against the wave of oncoming primids. Fox dashed through the enemies once more and started kick them back. The sound of an aircraft screamed overhead and huge shots blasted the ground at the primids' feet and blew a couple to bits in the middle.

"You're welcome," Falco called on the radio.

"Just be careful not to shoot me," Fox sighed.

"How 'bout Big Bad Wolfy?"

"Not him either." The crowd of metal primids slowly decreased in number as the two fighters and flyer blasted them into puddles. Both Fox and Wolf were getting tired.

"Giving up yet?" Fox breathed out.

"Not before you, pup," Wolf got out between breaths.

"What's the matter, Wolf?" Falco came in over the radio. "Why don'tcha just huff and puff and blow them all down?"

"I swear, ONE more word outta you, bird-brain, and your goose is cooked."

"I am **not **a goose. And that's the **second **time someone's called me 'bird-brain'!"

"Fox!…" Fox roared as he charged up fire around him. One more primid came up to him. Fox rushed forward calling "FIRE!" and hit the primid far over the edge of the floating island. Thunder suddenly crashed from far away and little flashes of lightning appeared overhead.

"Yo, Fox? Storm's movin' in fast!" Falco called in.

_**1…**_

Falco continued. "I can't fly in a storm!"

"Retreat if necessary," Fox ordered.

_**2…**_

"I don't like how fast it's coming," Wolf muttered. "My hair's on end."

_**3…**_

"Whoa!" Fox jumped, startled as a primid jumped in front of him.

"Watch it, McCloud! Don't you get cocky!" Wolf called out.

_**4…**_

Fox stood his ground and kicked the primid away. Heavy stomps sounded behind the camera. Fox gasped and the camera started to turn.

"I said 'WATCH IT!'" Wolf shouted as he dashed and jump-kicked Fox out of the way.

_**5…**_

Deafening thunder crashed as the entire screen blindingly flashed purple and lavender. The recording cracked up and popped because of the loud noise. The light slowly faded away and the camera struggled to auto-focus. Fox's gasps and Wolf's anguished screams sounded and crackled. The blurred camera got close to Wolf who was gripping his leg in pain. The normally purple boot was covered in something gray that was climbing up the leg. Wolf let go of his leg and clawed the ground. Fox put his hands on Wolf and shook him gently. The focus got better and the three fighters could see Wolf's pained snarl clearly. The gray crawling up his body looked like a stone coating slowly covering.

"What-?" Fox's pained voice cracked a tiny bit as his hand got grabbed by Wolf's. "How- What- Why?"

"I… told you," Wolf barely breathed out as the stone coating covered his chest quickly. "If you're gonna die, it'll be by me, McCloud. You're my kill. No one's takin' that from me." Wolf cringed and closed his eyes, and the stone covering completely swallowed him. Heavy breathing sounded behind the camera that sounded like choked up crying.

"Falco, I-zzzshhh- get me out-zzzsh- Wolf-zzzshh"

"Rog-zzzsh- tell me what happ-zzzzssh"

"Trust-zzzzsh- not-zzzsh- believe-zzzsh"

Television snow came in and out. Fox, on the outside, clicked off the recording, unplugged his headset, and crossed his arms. Link and Mario continued to stare in awe at the blank screen, trying to sort out what they saw.

"Camera started getting messed up 'cause of the storm for some reason. The blast was very powerful. So, what do you think?" Fox asked worriedly.

"Same-a lightning," Mario stated. "But it zapped his leg?"

"And started creeping up."

"Princessa was-a struck head on-a and-a turned to-a stone ammediately."

"So, it doesn't matter where it touches you. Once it does, it's game over… Link? What are your thoughts?"

Link put a hand over his mouth for a second. "This lightning is bothering, but what about your and Wolf's discovery? That… black hole, that portal or multiplier or something. The thing making the primids. Are they infinite? Can it be destroyed? Back to the lightning. Peach has been struck. Wolf has been struck. Who else? What exactly does it do? Why has it suddenly appeared like this? Also, someone or something is pulling the primids' strings because no way can they be that organized."

"Hmm," Fox pondered. "Could this have anything, anything at all, to do with T-"

"No."

Fox blinked at Link's automatic response.

"My sword went through him. I was up close and personal when he was defeated. We all watched him die. He's gone."

Fox noticed Link shaking from the memory, smiled sadly, and nodded. "Alright, we'll talk more on this. Come on, Mario. I need your help to transport Wolf and his Wolfen." The two adults started to leave the room. Link could hear Fox start to whisper to Mario, "He's a still a kid right? Maybe I shouldn't've showed him…"

"He's-a strong, but-a only 18…" Mario whispered back. They exited the room, leaving Link alone. Link breathed deeply, trying to suppress the memories bubbling up inside him. _'No more flashes!' _He clenched his jaw and tried to focus.

_A pale figure in a violet cape stood above a shattered sword in the middle of an arena. Evil was rising into the air. A young boy in a green tunic took a few steps away. Armored guards drew their weapons and charged the caped figure. Another flash of magic light and the guards flew away from the figure. The young boy stumbled back and quickly looked up toward the arena stands. A young blond girl in a decorated pink dress was astounded and scared. Chaos erupted throughout the arena. The cloaked figure started to escape before emitting another magic light. The girl shrieked. The boy screamed. When the light died away, the boy choked and sobbed at the sight of the girl's frozen stone body._

'_NO MORE!' _The feeling bubbled violently, then died away. Link relaxed and slowly headed for the door. He stopped for a second and stared at the computer screen, recalling the recording.

"Well…" Link called. "What do **you **think, Pit?"

"… You always know…" The angel poked his head out of a dark, crowded corner.

"I know **you**."

Pit trotted up to the green warrior and began. "Well, I **would **say it looks like Medusa's work, but I've beaten her and… well, she's not coming back from the Underworld. It's confusing! One touch, one zap means stone? The stone crawls up like it eats you! Creepy…"

"I know…"

Pit scratched his head and adjusted his laurel. "I don't like this at all. I'm worried about Skyworld, the Centurions, and Lady Palutena…"

"You can go check on them. We can, hopefully, sort things out down here," Link assured. The angel looked down solemnly.

"I- I- I c-can't… can't…" Pit's sky-blue eyes were clouded and misty. "I can't… leave you alone… I'm sure it's okay up there. I want to stay down here and help you guys."

"Thanks, Pit…" Both fighters stayed quiet for a minute.

For once, Link broke the silence. "This is going to get big."

Pit nodded. "Bigger than all of us." He sighed. "You know what this means, right?"

"Yeah."

"We're about to get in to something **way **over our heads."

_**(So, how'd you like it? Link's flashback may seem a little odd so I'll tell you since it may not be the most famous of the Zelda franchise. It's of the beginning of The Minish Cap (the violet robed figure is Vaati. Look him up). Please leave a review and remember to tell me if I should always included a note of a reference or not! **_

_**Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story. Your support is all the motivation I need to keep going.)**_


	10. Chapter 4: Close to the Heart

_**(Hey guys! This Xybur7! The school year's almost done! (for me at least ^,^) I can't wait for summer. I hope you guys like this short chapter. ****The next few will be on the long side so I hope you can forgive me. This one will be short but **sweet**.**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own anything but the plot. Any and all characters/places/objects belong to their respective owners.)**_

Chapter 4: Close to the Heart

Lucario's focus jumped from aura to aura. Many auras were together in the broken Mushroom castle. There were a couple here and there slowly making their way for that castle. _'So that's the natural place to meet…'_ he thought, then hopped off the top of the tall tree and jumped down to the ground. Red sat crossed-legged below, carefully sipping some soup from a cup. He spat and stuck out his tongue. His bruised face looked better with now only a couple of band-aids on his cheek.

"Ah puh teh raaght eb in… Wha's it tassth so bad?…" Red complained.

"The herb I got for you will make you feel better. It smelled correct. It's medicine," Lucario stated.

"Whai's it tassth so bad?"

"Medicine doesn't have to taste good." Lucario sighed and kneeled. "Master, I'm sorry I wasn't there. If only I was faster… If I had paid more attention…"

Red slurped up the last bit and coughed a little. "I've… Kuff, kuff… I've been worse. Don't put all the blame on yourself, buddy." Red grinned. "I didn't expect it either. It was a surprise for everyone." He cleaned out the cup, stuffed it in his backpack, and stood up. "So, where we goin'?"

"Many people are heading for Princess Peach's castle," the aura pokémon reported. Pikachu hopped up onto Red's shoulder and nodded.

"Right then," Red decided. "Princess Peach's it is." The group started through the thick woods. They slowly picked up the pace toward the distant castle.

"Sooooo…" Pikachu chirped. "What the heck was that purple lightning? That was totally weird." She turned to Red. "How'd you know to draw the guys back, Red?"

"Huh?" Red looked at Pikachu, confused. Lucario translated. "Oh!" He answered. "I thought it was a lightning attack from an opponent. I've seen Pikachu's Thunder so I thought that's what it was. The most likely targets were my guys so I withdrew them 'cuz I had to act fast. I guess it wasn't enemy Thunder, was it?..."

"No," Lucario answered. "But you did well to withdraw them out of harm's way. That primid was strong… and ruthless. I don't remember them being that active and violent." The trees rustled. Lucario put his arm in front of the trainer and looked directly up. He stared at the slightly vibrating spot in the leaves.

"What is that up there?" Pikachu whispered. Lucario closed his eyes and focused his mind on the moving spot. Twisted aura flickered off of a bird with razor wings and a long pointed beak.

"Not a primid," he confirmed. "An Auroros."

"The birds?" Pikachu asked.

"**A **bird."

"A _**flying **_bird?" Pikachu started to grin deviously. Lucario caught the grin and gave a little smirk himself. He offered his paw to Pikachu who hopped on and started charging electricity.

"On my mark." Red readied himself and kept his eyes on the patch of leaves.

"Yes sir," both pokémon answered. Lucario crouched.

"Leap!" Red ordered. Lucario followed the order and jumped high into the air, getting close to the top of the tree. He kept the momentum by putting his feet on the tree's trunk and running up. He held Pikachu out and pulled her back, preparing for the next signal.

"Throw!" Red shouted. Lucario hurled Pikachu into the air as high as he could to get her close to the hiding Auroros. She flew high up and rustled the leaves. The Auroros startled and began to fly. A white bird with rainbow blade wing and tail feathers and long sharp beak burst through the leaves. The bird flipped and started to plummet like a spear right above the sparky mouse.

"Now! THUNDER!" Red commanded. Pikachu unleashed the pent up energy, summoned storm clouds, and shocked the Auroros with an enormous bolt of brilliant yellow lightning. The Auroros jerked and fell to the ground, burning to a crisp. Red exclaimed with glee and Lucario gave a small applause.

_**1…**_

Pikachu landed on a top-most branch, looked down at the aura pokémon and blushed like crazy. Lucario saw Pikachu's aura flush with excitement, embarrassment, and giddiness.

_**2…**_

Lucario sniffed the air. His fur pricked up on end. Violet flashes started appearing in the dark clouds.

_**3… **_

Lucario's smile faded. His heart beneath his steel chest spike skipped a beat.

"PIKACHU!" he realized, rushed up, filled up his paw with aura, and palmed the tree as hard as he could.

_**4…**_

Pikachu wobbled and fell off the branch.

_**5…**_

Violet lightning came down and struck branch where Pikachu was perched. The branch fell like the stone it now was. Lucario rushed up the tree, shattered the stone branch, and swiftly scooped up the falling Pikachu. He landed softly back on the ground next to the panicking Red who had a spray bottle potion and cheri berry in hand, ready. The normally calm Lucario himself was breathing hard with panic. He cradled Pikachu and slightly rocked her. Pikachu squirmed a little. Lucario shook her gently in his arms and Red came in with a small squirt from the potion bottle.

"Pikachu?..." Lucario whispered softly. His straight, pointed ears drooped a little. _'Oh, great Arceus… please, please, please… Wake up… Please, Pikachu. Wake up…'_

"Ooo...ar...ee…oh…mmm" Pikachu mumbled, and then jolted awake. "HOLY HO-OH! What was THAT?" Lucario let out such a huge sigh of relief, his shoulders sagged as his tension was released. "DIDJA SEE THAT?" Pikachu kept going on. "I did Thunder and the birdie went bye-bye and I was up top and I nearly got struck by my own lightning and I fell and the branch fell and the tree rumbled and the- and the… Someone tell me what happened."

"That wasn't your lightning… That was the violet one…" Lucario breathed out.

"'What happened?'" Red tried to translate. "You used Thunder, then something tried to zap you… and turned the branch to stone… Yeah, that doesn't make sense. Why would lightning petrify? Lucario made you fall out of the way and-"

"Nothing happened." Both Red and Pikachu looked at Lucario, caught off guard by his surprising response.

"Right… Nothing bad happened… and that's all that matters, right?" Red tried to smile. "Let's, uh, keep going, shall we?" He backed up and started to lead the way. Lucario stood up but didn't let go of the electric mouse in his arms.

"Uuuuh, Lucario?" Pikachu tilted her head. "Are **you **okay?"

"I'm still calming down," Lucario breathed out.

"Um…" Pikachu's red cheeks sparked once and the red spread across her face. "I need to stay by Red…"

"I've got my eye on him. I won't let him get hurt again," the aura pokémon assured. "Not on my watch." Lucario brought Pikachu a little closer. "Just… let me keep you close for a while…" His eyes went distant. _'I don't want to lose you…' _He thought to himself. _'I've lost my home… I've lost my master… My friends… My entire past… Pikachu. Red. You're practically all I have left. I can't lose you. I __**won't **__lose you. I swear on my life.'_

"_**You deserve a second chance."**_

Lucario blinked and smiled sadly. _'I won't let you down, my friend. I promised I wouldn't waste it.'_

"Lucario, are you scared?"

The aura guardian glanced down at the tiny, fragile pokémon in his arms who brought him back to reality. His heart pounded but not for fear or anxiety. He felt his muscles relax and allowed his aura to flow. The faint blue fire appeared as a small flame in each paw beside Pikachu that glowed, not flickered. Lucario took a deep breath in and out, looked the cradled pokémon in the eyes, and spoke the truth. He answered strongly but gently, hard but soft, controlled yet unrestrained.

"Not anymore."

_**/**_

**3**

_**(If this doesn't wave a big pink heart-shaped flag in your face and make you go "Aww" I don't know what will. Remember to leave me a review about how I did and what I need to fix. Thank you for taking the time of day to read my story. It really does mean a lot to me to know that at least someone out there likes it. Thank you all. Your support gives me all the motivation I need to keep writing.)**_


	11. Chapter 5: Dedication and Faith

_**(Hey everyone! This is Xybur7! Um... I didn't get any responses or reviews for Chapter 4... Should I be worried? Sorry if this chapter is a little boring in the beginning. It's another long one. I hope you guys like it.  
ONE MORE DAY OF SCHOOL FOR ME! WOOP! WOOP! And then I have SAT... *chirp, chirp* hurray...**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own anything but the plot. Any and all characters/places/objects belong to their respective owners.)**_

Chapter 5: Dedication and Faith

Link walked out of the throne room after carefully transporting another statue. He sighed, heavily troubled. Inside the throne room were the baseless statues of Peach, Wolf, and now, Captain Falcon and Meta Knight. Olimar had arrived with his battalion of pikmin carrying Captain Falcon in an ironic salute as if he was proudly dedicated to himself. Kirby and even the penguin, King Dedede, were moping inside, depressed and shocked. Link got to hear first-hand what had happened to them.

The little spaceman, Olimar, had been attacked by metal primids. His pikmin had been powerless. Captain Falcon came to the showy "FALCON PAWNCH!" rescue, and this was his reward.

Kirby began bawling inside the throne room. He and Meta Knight got into an argument at Dedede's. Kirby sucked up the small blue warrior and copied his ability as payback. More arguments. A few seconds later, Meta Knight was stone. Both groups of warriors made their way to Mushroom Castle for refuge and comfort when none was to be found.

Link sighed again. It'd been at least a week since the castle turned into a fortress. Wave on wave of enemies had already tried and failed to seize it. Link became the head commander for the miniscule forces. Everyone was afraid if they would be struck down next. A door opened. Pit gently led Kirby outside.

"He- It was- I didn't mean it…" Kirby was still hiccupping and sobbing. "It's my fault… Then we argued. And shouted. And zap! Said something 'tattoo borders metal pyramid'… Waaaah!"

"It's okay, Kirby. It's okay," Pit assured. He looked up at Link with soft, sentimental eyes and went back to comforting the pink puffball who quickly began feeling better. _'Pit sure is a good morale booster,'_ Link thought _'Great goddesses, what would I do without him?'_ Link started across the main room to check on other things. He passed by a blonde ninja in a blue jumpsuit, stopped, then turned around confused.

"Uh… Sheik?" He asked.

"Yeah?" the blonde ninja replied.

"Why're you out? What's up with Zelda?"

"I made an executive decision to take over until the situation has calmed down. I have a theory to what might be causing the lightning. Or rather, what makes it aim for some and not others."

Link blinked. "Then why don't you tell us?"

"Because it's just a theory. Not proven yet… yet… Zelda, go back inside."

Link looked beside the ninja at a pale ghostly figure of the princess. He jumped back, shocked. "Holy Din-! Zelda, you scared me!" he exclaimed. Pit walked up behind Link and blinked a couple of times, staring at the ghostly image.

"How's she doin' that?" He flat out asked.

Sheik answered him. "It's called _spirit walking._ Those with powerful, magical spirits can manage to pull this off."

"Lucky for me, someone's left over to guard the body!" Zelda giggled. "While like this, the body is basically dead unless there's another soul inside." She glanced at Sheik.

Even Link knew about this. He remembered Zelda practicing it when they were little. "Basically, one separates their soul or 'spirit' from their body and walks around. They can still use magic and stuff but can't really physically interact with anything. Like a ghost but not really dead."

"Oooooookay," was Pit's response. He was surprised but not impressed. An awkward silence pervaded their conversation.

Zelda coughed. "Well, how's everyone doing? I know it's a little… hard to stay happy but I'm sure we can get through this tough time."

"Harder than you think." Link sighed again. Pit smacked his back.

"Stop sighing. It's depressing," Pit snapped.

"Alright, alright… Haaaa…" SMACK. "Okay! I'll stop!"

Pit stood up as straight as possible and made a pouting face. "This is break time! Before another primid wave comes up, we need to get motivated and happy. Get it? HAAAAPPYYY! H-A-P-P-Y!" Pit pinched Link's cheeks and forced him to smile. Link tapped the angel's hands and pulled them off, still smiling.

"I know…" Link somewhat laughed out.

"Pit, calm down a bit, okay?" Zelda cooed. "He's been saddled with a lot of responsibility so he's a little stressed out."

"That's okay!" Pit cheered childishly. "'Cuz I'll always cheer you on, buddy! You can do it!"

"Pit!" someone called. "Sentry duty! Your turn!"

Pit cursed under his breath and went around the corner and up the stairs. More silence fell between Link, Zelda, and Sheik.

"Why am I head commander of our small army again? Why not Fox? Or Mario? Or someone else?"

"You're best with ground fighting," Sheik explained. "Mario's still in a bit of shock and, as skilled as Fox is, he's better in the air than on land. We're having ground attacks, not dog fights."

"Whatever you say, Sheik."

Suddenly, pounding sounded loudly on the front door. Zelda gasped, then poofed into light. Sheik stood ready and absorbed Zelda's soul back into the body. More pounding sounded on the door as well as shouts and the sounds of fighting. Link drew his sword and fixed shield. He carefully approached the door and listened carefully to the shouts.

"Help! You gotta open this door! We need- AAAAH!" A young male voice screamed. Behind the door, another, deeper, male voice was grunting and roaring as clinks and clanks sounded.

"Who is it?" Link called.

"Marth! And Ike! We're under attack! We've been chased! Please, just- NOOO!" Something crashed and the castle rumbled.

"Marth? Marth!" Link opened the door and faced a large pile of debris. A young man in a slim blue tunic and cape coughed and picked himself up. His teal-blue hair was covered in dirt and messed up under his golden headdress. The pile was too high to crawl over.

Marth called over. "We need your help! We've been chased out of our own castle by these guys! Ike's injured! He can't hold them back any longer!" Link caught a glimpse of another blue-haired swordsman with a large orange long-sword. His brown headband and red cape were in tatters. He kept his eyes on the small army of metal primids and slashed through as many as he could.

"I'm coming!" Link called back. "Try to move around the side!" Link rushed back inside. "Battle stations! Fighters, with me!" Sheik dashed up and Donkey Kong dropped down to follow. Mario followed up as well. Ness and Lucas popped up and joined the running group.

"Kids? You need to stay inside!" Link ordered.

"Onii-chan, let us help! We can do it!" Ness confidently shouted.

Link nodded and went around to the side. They found the side door and burst through it. Up ahead, Ike dashed back and collapsed to one knee. Marth dashed around the side and in front of the tired Ike and prepared a counter against the ambling army of primids.

"Prince… Move…" Ike struggled out.

"Marth! Ike! Hold on!" Link called out to them. Then he raised his sword as a signal. "Fighters! Attack!" The fighters charged. Shots, hits, and roars echoed off the castle walls. Link used the spin attack to push back the mob swiftly surrounding him. _'There's so many!' _Link thought, worried. _'Will we be able to hold them off?'_ Dirt exploded into the air next to Link and he shielded his face. He looked at the thing that had fallen. An Auroros twitched on the ground as a small green leaf swished back and forth behind its head. Something purple popped up from the small ditch. Link looked down, worried and confused, at the fat purple pikmin that was looking back and forth, lost. Both he and the pikmin heard a whistle from above and looked up. On the top of the castle, Pit, Diddy Kong, Fox, Falco, and Olimar were firing their bows and guns, and throwing projectiles at a swarm of sharp Auroros. Olimar was calling out in a panicked voice before nearly lunging over the edge to look down. Link held his hand for the pikmin to jump on and waved at the small spaceman.

"One's down here!" He called then to the pikmin, "Come on, don't be scared. I won't hurt you." The pikmin tilted its head for a moment, then jumped on as Olimar let out a very audible sigh of relief.

"Toss him up! I'll get him!" Olimar shouted. Link pulled back and threw. The pikmin hurled through the air and landed safely in Olimar's hands. The Hocotatian spaceman bowed quickly as thanks before rallying up his small battalion of pikmin together again. _'Olimar… I need to focus!' _Link shook his head quickly to snap out of his deep thoughts. A metal primid leaped from behind. Link spun to dodge and back-slashed the primid in half. Three more tried to ambush the young swordsman from above. Link slashed above his head once, spun to slash again harder, and spun again to slash harder. All three were sliced to pieces before melting into metal rain. More primids approached. Link kept at the sword to keep them all at bay. Link quickly gripped the Master Sword with both hands and stabbed one of the last primids around him through the chest and ripped it out as the primid melted. After hundreds of kills, the young, green Hylian stumbled to the ground, exhausted. He plunged his sword into the earth and collapsed to one knee. He caught his breath for a couple seconds and leaned against his sword. _'We can't hold them back… I can't go on for much longer,' _Link thought to himself. _'No!... Heh, Pit would pitch a fit if he heard me think like that. I gotta keep fighting… for everyone!...' _Link tried to stand and gave a small gasp of pain. Fire was shooting up his back from his tailbone. _'Ow! When did I get this injured?'_ Something stomped behind him. _'CRAP! I'm a sitting duck!'_

"Fly! WINGS OF ICARUS!" Link could practically feel the heat from the fiery punch coming toward him before he was snatched from the ground and was dangling in the air. Link gripped his sword and shield as Pit kept a firm hold on his arm. Link shook his head to snap out of his fatigue then looked up at the angel carrying him with an idea.

"How long can you fly?" he asked quickly.

"Five minutes!" Pit answered automatically.

"Right. Let's get them from the sky, Pit!"

"With pleasure! Ally-oop!" Pit hollered as he hurled Link into the air. Link sheathed his sword as he flipped. He grabbed his bow and spread his arms and legs as if to skydive. Then his vision started to turn dark.

_**A young swordsman in a green tunic jumped off the edge of a floating dock and used a finger whistle. A huge crimson bird swooped underneath and caught him. The swordsman soared over a sea of clouds toward an enormous green pillar of light. As soon as he got close he leaped off his bird and started to fall to the surface, thousands of miles down. But he didn't feel afraid. He enjoyed the wind coming up against his face. He wasn't going to hit the ground. This was all normal to him. After all, he was-**_

'_Goddesses above, STOP IT!' _Link screamed in his head. _'THAT'S. NOT. ME!_' Pit came back down, swooped in, wrapped his arms around Link's waist, and began to fly over the almost infinite army of primids while carrying the green swordsman. Link could see another army of Auroros in the distance attacking something in a dense part of the forest. A little explosion of blue fire erupted from beneath the trees. _'Someone else is coming our way,' _Link thought as he aimed and fired his arrows into the metal monsters as he passed overhead. Behind them was a small, delayed trail of purple lightning, as if it was trying to keep up with them. Link ignored it for the moment and began to pull out some bombs to drop from above. Pit did his best to swerve away from the lightning and Auroros army as Link tried to hit as many primids as he could. Link gave a glance behind them.

"Pit! Two Auroros coming in fast at 7 o'clock!" he warned. Pit heeded the warning and tried to lose the enemies on their tail. The Auroros kept after them and charged for them, spinning like a drill. Pit did a barrel roll to the right and dodged the attack. Both Link and Pit got distracted for a moment when they saw Fox and Falco gape at them, high-five each other, then returned to protecting the castle roof. Link pulled out another bomb and chucked it straight into a large group of primids, turning a good chunk of them to liquid goop. Few primids were left. Link was ready to notch an arrow when he listened closely. Pit was breathing hard. The angel's breaths soon turned into short cries of pain.

"Aaah… AAAAH! Hot! Hot! Getting really hot! Sah- Sorry, Link! I gotta land! Now!" Pit managed to gasp out. His wings' glow had gone from as blue as his eyes to a fiery orange.

"Now? It hasn't even been two minutes yet!" Link exclaimed. He suddenly realized how high off the ground they were and how fast they were flying.

"I know! Before it cuts off, I need ta-" The glow burst apart and left Pit with nothing but regular wings. The pair started to descend. Fast.

"Oh no!" Both warriors cried out as they shot diagonally toward the ground.

"MAYDAY! MAYDAY!" Pit started to scream. "I repeat: MAYDAY! We're goin' down! P-force 1 goin' down! Fasten your seatbelts, folks! This is going to be a rough landing!"

"**YOU'RE **my seatbelt!" Link yelled. "Pit! **DO **SOMETHING! We're gonna crash!"

"I- I can't fly anymore!" Pit cried with a voice full of anguish. The pair shot over another small group of primids and got closer and closer to the ground. They held each other and looked forward, toward a trunk with lots of thick branches.

"TREE!" They both shrieked and crashed so hard against it, the great trunk leaned backwards and broke. The pair rolled and bounced off the broken trunk and flopped into the fallen bed of leaves. Both fighters groaned and slowly got up.

"I thought… you said **five **minutes, Pit," Link managed to breathe out.

"Well," Pit started. "You see. I _used_ to be able to fly for five minutes."

"Used… to?"

"Um! I mean-! I'm tired! That's all! I'm sorry!"

Link took a look back at the small battlefield next to the castle. He could see Ike completely limp on the ground and Marth panicking over him.

"Come on, Ike! Don't ditch me! Don't you dare leave me! I- I am your prince and I order you not to die!" Marth's young face was streaked with a couple of tears as he tried as many excuses for Ike as possible. He grabbed Ike's arm and slung it over his shoulder. Then, he slowly tried to drag Ike and himself back into the castle. Link and Pit gathered themselves and stumbled out of the leaves. '_We have to withdraw,'_ Link thought._ 'There aren't many primids anymore. They won't overrun us.'_

Link ran out onto the battlefield and began to call out. "Fighters! Withdraw! I repeat, with-!"

"Greaps!" Someone yelled. Link turned toward the scream. Ness and Lucas were dashing away from a couple of enormous sphere shaped enemies with giant scythes. The dark sphere body rolled forward on small wheels and swung the humongous pair of scythes at the running children. Its bright yellow eyes on its sunken, round, red head glared violently. Link's heart sank._'Holy Din's Fire!' _

"Everyone, retreat!" Link ordered. All the people outside began to make their way back to the side door. Sheik threw some needles and punctured the greaps' heads, causing them to make a roaring sound and collapse. Link and Pit began to run with the group. More greaps appeared from within the forest and dashed for the heroes. Link half-turned and caught his breath. An enormous greap loomed over him and slashed with its scythes. Link raised his shield. The hit slammed Link to the ground and ripped the shield off his arm. Link grunted and looked up at the sickle blade glinting in the sunlight, ready to reap its next victim.

"_**Connection… must break… End… the cycle…"**_

'_I'm… gonna die!' _Link thought. Time slowed down. Someone slid in front of the fallen warrior. The person raised his twin blades and started to cross his weapons in front of his chest to block. The sunlight glinted off the person's golden laurel. The person was too slow. The greap spun and slashed upwards with its twin scythes, breaking the block. Link could hear the long rip of the white fabric and the person's small, shocked gasp. A needle sailed out of nowhere and stabbed through the greap's head. The greap fell over, dead, and disintegrated into nothing. Link pushed himself up and caught his savior as he fell backwards. The boys in white's eyes were squeezed shut and he was biting his lip in intense pain. He breathed heavily, then his face and body relaxed and went limp. Grief started to rise in Link's throat. He struggled to swallow the shock, fear, and sadness fighting to the surface. Sheik rushed up and tugged on Link's arm, shouting at him to "fall back." Link's eyes stung._ 'Pit…' _

"Link! You ordered a retreat!" Sheik tried to snap him out of it. "Let's go!" Link looked up like a lost child and nodded. He scooped up the limp angel and carried him in his arms. People were waving and gesturing for the group to hurry to safety. An army of greaps rolled after them. Lucas and Ness ran up across the small bridge and waved.

"We'll hold them off, Onii-chan!" Ness called.

"I'm sorry!" Lucas apologized. "I'll heal everyone later!"

Link rushed behind the children, then turned to watch, still cradling Pit. The children crossed their arms and focused their psychic powers.

"P-Kaaaaaay!..." They chanted as the greap army got closer. The sky started to get dark.

"STARSTORM!" They shouted and summoned hundreds of comets from above. The falling stars slammed into the greaps and reduced their small army to ashes. The two children fell on their hands and knees, caught their breath, and flashed a smile to each other.

_**1…**_

Thunder rumbled across the sky. Sheik stepped forward.

_**2…**_

Ness and Lucas looked up at the sky worriedly.

_**3…**_

"Lucas! Ness! Get over here, now!" Sheik yelled. Ness and Lucas struggled to get up.

_**4…**_

Sheik cursed and disappeared in a puff of smoke. She reappeared between the two children, grabbed them both, and poofed again.

_**5…**_

Sheik reappeared beside Link with both boys in hand as an enormous purple lightning bolt struck the end of the bridge, where the children had stood.

"I knew it…" Sheik mumbled. "Everyone, inside! Injured, to the hospital!" She ordered as Link was still shaken. Zelda shimmered in and looked worriedly at Sheik.

"The battle's over…" Zelda began.

Sheik finished. "But the war has just begun." Everyone rushed inside. The injured went into a side room made up for medical purposes. Marth laid Ike down on a small bed and other injured rested on other cots. Link cradled Pit and felt him squirm.

"Ugh… Ow…" the angel moaned.

"Pit! You're okay!" Link exclaimed, full of joy and relief. Lucas came around, hands glowing with power. Pit slowly and groggily shook his head.

"Yeah… still… kickin'…" he mumbled out, then to Lucas, "Me… last…" Lucas gave a confused look.

"Not… bad… everyone else… first…" Pit practically whispered. Lucas reluctantly nodded and started with the others. Link shook the angel in his arms gently. Pit opened his sky-blue eyes and looked up dazed. There were two long bloodstained rips on the front of his pure white toga that rose and fell as he breathed.

"You're in pain just as much as everyone else!" Link hissed at him.

"Shallow… wounds…"

"You said it yourself; there's dark energy involved and you're susceptible. It may not look bad but I know it hurts!"

"Last… priority…"

Link sighed. "Pit, you're too selfless… I almost thought you died…" _'I got scared…' _Link thought. _"I, the supposed Hero of Courage, felt afraid.'_ Link looked up at Marth and Ike. Marth was much more relaxed and kept apologizing to Ike. Link guessed at their conversation. 'You got hit.' 'I meant to get hit.' 'You got hit because of me.'

"Link…" Pit spoke a little stronger with a hint of pep. "I'm okay now… honestly…"

"Not honestly," Link countered. He continued to watch Marth and Ike as he still cradled the small angel. Pit felt like very young boy to Link, small and frail. He sighed again, the panic over.

"Pit, there's something I need of you," he said.

"Sure," Pit answered.

"Listen to me. As a friend."

"I'm listening."

"Please, don't do that again. Don't ever take another hit for me. Never again..."

Pit smiled sadly. "No promises."

_**(#^.^# So? How'd you like it. Don't worry, I'll explain Pit and Link's relationship in due time. Not that I have a big problem with it, but I am NOT an incredible yaoi fan, so, none of that. **_

_**Please, leave reviews! I like seeing how you guys react, and pointing out any mistakes I might have **__**made. **_

_**Thank you Aurora and Aura Blue for pointing out a grammar mistake! I kinda have to be my own editor since no one in my house will do it. This an example. I like it when people point out mistakes no matter if it be continuity or spelling and grammar.**_

_**Your support is all the motivation I need to keep writing this. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. See ya next chapter!**_


	12. Chapter 6: Where I Belong

_**(I am officially on SUMMERRRR VAAACATION! YES! Here's Chapter 6! Hope you guys like it! Just letting you know, a lot of the chapters that bounce between Link and Lucario happen more or less at the same time. In fact, the beginning of this chapter plays out at the same time as Chapter 5's battle. ^,^ Okay, enjoy!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own anything but the plot. Any and all characters/places/objects belong to their respective owners.)**_

Chapter 6: Where I Belong

Echoed shouts bounced off the trees as Pikachu dashed in, out, around, and between the falling spear-like Auroros. Red tried to keep his cool as he directed Charizard's flight to avoid the Auroros' attacks. All the while, Lucario kept his eyes closed as he busted as many enemies as he could in front of him to make a clearer path. The swarm of killer birds flew over them and plummeted.

Lucario sensed one incoming. He agilely changed direction on one foot and leaped at Pikachu first. He scooped her up, immediately bounced off the nearby tree at Charizard, and hooked his arm around the fire pokémon's neck. He swung forward and upside down while hooked onto the neck, like swinging on a bar. Charizard roared and his head turned with Lucario's force, changing his flight path drastically to the side. Red held on for dear life, trying desperately not the fall off. Two Auroros plunged into the spot where Pikachu originally was and one bird just missed them, spinning like a drill. Lucario flipped, shoved Pikachu against Red's chest, and let go of Charizard's neck. He landed firmly on his feet and started to charge up an Aura Sphere.

The swarm of Auroros flew closer from above and ahead. Lucario bared his fangs and pushed his aura to the maximum. His life force sparked and crackled like fire and lightning around the now fully charged Aura Sphere. The aura guardian hurled the sphere into a big flock of the razor birds and blew them to smithereens. He started to pause and catch his breath until he heard the rumble of thunder and smelled the metallic, electrified air. He leaped backward, narrowly avoiding a purple lightning bolt.

Lucario breathed hard. He and the rest of the group had been running none-stop for nearly 2 days. He was tired and aching from the recent missteps he'd had from the Auroros. The three auras of Charizard, Pikachu, and Red kept flaring up and down with surprise and tension as they continued, barely dodging attacks. Lucario dashed to catch up. _'There are so many!' _He thought. He hurried up so he was then running parallel with Charizard, but with few yards between them.

"Turn left!" Lucario shouted at them. Red nodded, leaned forward, and lightly tugged Charizard's horns in the aura pokémon's direction. Charizard started banking left. Lucario ran far ahead of them and charged another Aura Sphere, as big as he could make it. The swarm of Auroros flocked together as they turned to follow Charizard. _'That's right,' _Lucario thought, _'condense… so I can get you all at once.' _The sphere hit its max. Lucario waited for the perfect shot. Charizard was flying right at him with the entirety of the swarm right behind him. _'Perfect!' _Lucario threw the Aura Sphere as hard as he could. Red gasped and ducked as the Aura Sphere sailed right over his head and into the packed flock. The flock blew up in an explosion of blue fire. Charizard whipped overhead, grabbed one of Lucario's arms with his claws, and carried him off backwards and away from another lightning strike. Lucario searched with his aura sight as his feet dangled.

All the Auroros were gone but some large ball-shaped auras were rolling around behind them. More appeared. The balls rushed forward from nowhere and kept in hot pursuit, swinging their long sickle headed staves. _'What are those?' _Lucario wondered worriedly. He quickly turned his attention to what was in front of him. He opened his orange eyes and stared at the dark spheres with scythes gaining on them. _'Greaps! There are greaps now?' _Lucario barely spotted another one appear behind him, ahead of Charizard and slash out. _'What is it aiming at?' _Lucario was puzzled for a second until he caught a glimpse of the large tree falling in the way.

Red panicked. "Charizard! Pull up! Pull up!"

"Can't… carry… too… heavy!" Charizard forced out through gritting teeth. The pokémon didn't lift up enough. The back of Lucario's legs hit the tree trunk and knocked him out of Charizard's grasp. Lucario flailed a little as he forcefully flipped backward. Red lashed out with his hand and swiped at the aura pokémon. The trainer caught him at the last second. Lucario tensed up screamed out in pain.

"What's wrong? Oh god, are you injured?" Red called out.

"AAAH! AAAAAARRGGH!" Lucario couldn't stop caterwauling.

Charizard began to tease. "Wow, I've never heard you **this** loud."

"Lucario! We're too high for them to catch us now! What's wrong?" Red asked again.

Lucario tried to stop shouting. "T- AAAH-!" He stuffed a fist in his mouth and tried again. "Tuh- Tail! TAIL! Let go! TAIL!"

"If I do, I'll drop you!" Red exclaimed. "Let's get away for now! I'm sorry! If I didn't catch your tail, you would've been left behind! Just hold on for a little bit!" Lucario bit his fist to keep from screaming as Charizard flew higher and further away from the greaps. Lucario put his paws together and made one last Aura Sphere and hurled it downward at another large tree. An enormous explosion of blue fire erupted from the trunk and the tree shook and fell on top of one greap, stopping the rest of them in their tracks. The aura pokémon squeezed his eyes shut and covered his muzzle with his paws as he swayed back and forth over the treetops, hanging by his blue checked tail.

"We found a clearing! Just gives us a second, Lucario!" Red called, still keeping a firm hold on the tail. A painful fiery sensation ran up and down Lucario's spine. He opened one eye to see the ground rising up to him. Charizard flapped his wings and came to a jerky stop. Red hooked his legs around Charizard's belly quickly but nearly fell backward. His grip loosened and Lucario flopped onto the ground face down. Charizard also plopped to the ground on his stomach. Red got off and stroked the orange dragon's neck.

"I'm sorry I pushed you so hard, buddy," the trainer apologized then went over to the aura pokémon.

"You're… all… fat…" Charizard wheezed out.

"EXCUSE ME?" Pikachu squeaked and butted her head against Charizard's. "Who's fat?"

"**You're **as light as a feather… Those two." the orange pokémon jerked his head slightly at Red and Lucario. Charizard raised his voice. "I'm not your flying pack-mule!" Red looked up from spraying the potion along Lucario's back.

"What'd he say?" he asked.

Lucario turned his head to give an annoyed look at Charizard. "He said he's the strongest ever and can carry ten times both our weights and that he would love to be our flying pack-mule."

"Really?" Red raised an eyebrow.

"You liar!" Charizard coughed out with a tiny flame.

"And, I quote, '_Damn right_,'" Lucario continued.

"How can you do that?" the orange pokémon spat out with more fire.

"You teased me."

"Can't you take a joke?"

"No, I guess I can't."

"I outta…" Charizard tried to stand up as he sucked in a breath.

"That's enough!" Red pulled out a pokéball. "Charizard, return." The pokéball shot out a red beam and pulled Charizard in before he could breathe more fire. "Okay, Lucario, does it still hurt?"

"No. Thank you, Master," the aura pokémon obediently answered.

"Red."

"Master."

"Here we go again…" Pikachu sighed as the two fought with each other over the name.

"Fine. Call me what you will," Red surrendered. "So, it doesn't hurt a bit?"

"No," Lucario answered again.

"Can you stand?"

"No."

"… You're not even gonna try?"

"No."

"… Alright, then this is our camp for tonight." Red walked away to set up his tent. Pikachu got up close to Lucario.

"Don't ask about my tail," Lucario ordered.

"Okay…" Pikachu said. "Does it hurt?"

"I told you not to ask about my tail."

"I'm not asking about your tail. Your spine. I have a tail too, you know. I know what happens. So, does it really hurt?"

"… Yes…"

"Then why'd you-?"

"I'll sleep it off. No use wasting his potions."

"But that's what they're there for!" Pikachu exclaimed. "He has them to heal!"

"Heal his **team**." Lucario corrected.

"Your part of his team."

"Done!" Red called out. He sat under the very nearby tent that was made so it opened to Lucario. The sun had already set and the sky was turning a dark shade of blue. Pikachu bounded over, turned around in a circle, and settled down on a spread blanket.

"Hey, Lucario," Red said.

"Mmm," the pokémon grunted.

"How far are we from Peach's castle?"

"Not very. We'll reach it tomorrow. Go to sleep."

"What? Oh yeah, uh, good night." Lucario listened for the rustling of the sleeping bag before breathing out a sigh of relief. He tried to push himself up and arch his back. Pain shot from the base of the tail and up the spine. He gasped and plopped back down. _'Definitely sleep it off. This isn't something Red can heal with a potion… and I don't want to worry him. Uuuugh.' _Lucario blinked. He felt a stare. He glanced up at the open tent. Red lay on his stomach with his chin resting on his crossed arms. The trainer blinked.

Red began, "Are you sure you're not-?"

"Go to sleep!"

/

The sun shone bright above the tops of the trees. Red yawned and packed up the tent. Lucario stretched and leaned against a tree. He focused his aura sight on the nearby castle.

"We ready?" Red asked as he swung his backpack over his shoulder.

"This way." Lucario gestured and started walking, ignoring the tiny stings at each step. He kept his eyes closed and mind focused. _'Those auras that disappeared… I can't stand it! I have to know what happened. I need to ask the people there,' _Lucario thought. _'We're so close. We need to get there as soon as possible.'_

"We need to pick up the pace a little," the pokémon warned Red and Pikachu. The group sped up and jogged through the forest. They burst through and came up to the dilapidated Mushroom castle. Lucario turned and headed around the castle quickly.

"Wait!" Red exclaimed. "Aren't we going through the front door?"

"Rubble," Lucario answered curtly. The pokémon could see the outlines of bricks and rocks almost completely blocking the front door at the end of the drawbridge. "I can see a side door." They rushed up and knocked on side door. Lucario rose up and down on his toes impatiently and anxiously. _'I know they're in there,' _he thought. _'At least, I know one aura disappeared here. Auras can't just disappear. That person has to be here.' _The door opened. A greenish aura poked his head out flushed with surprise.

"Red? What're you doing here?" The young man asked.

"Link," Red started. "Good to see you're okay. Lucario said he saw something weird a few days ago and he insisted we come here-"

"Where are they?" Lucario cut in. He searched all over the castle with his aura sight. "Something happened here with lightning." Link blinked in surprise and nodded.

"I'll… show you. Come inside. It's good we have more allies. We need as many as we can get." The pokémon group walked in. They started to walk past a room full of tired auras.

"What-?" Red exclaimed.

"We've had a couple of skirmishes outside castle wall and our share of wounded. We had to at least make up one room as a clinic," Link explained.

"Now that I'm here, let me help! My potions may be for pokémon but I have other first aid supplies!"

"That's good. The only real healers we have are Lucas and Zelda. That would be a great help." Lucario tilted his head a little. _'Link sounds pained… If he's wounded too, why isn't he in there as well?' _Red ran into the clinic with Pikachu.

"Come on, I'll take you to them," Link said back to Lucario. Lucario searched the castle with his aura sight. Link led him down the hall toward a room with two people inside. Link opened the door and Lucario rushed in.

"Lucario!" Fox exclaimed.

"Hey, buddy!" Pit chirped. Lucario looked back and forth. There was nobody else there but them.

"Where are the lightning victims?" Lucario asked and stepped forward.

"Huh?" Link said, confused. "What are you talking about? They're right here!"

Lucario stormed in briskly, impatient and uneasy. "I don't see-" Lucario smashed his snout on hard stone and fell backwards to the ground. Everyone in the room gasped with shock. The pokémon's eyes shot open and he grasped his snout. He looked up at the looming statue of Princess Peach, surprised at what he just did. Peach's outstretched stone hand had a tiny, little mark on it where Lucario ran into. Lucario blinked a few times, then closed his eyes to use his aura sight. Fox's, Pit's, and Link's auras shined but Peach completely disappeared. The pokémon opened his eyes again.

"I- I couldn't… see her…" Lucario stuttered.

"You couldn't **see **her?" Fox asked with a worried tone.

"Um…" Pit thought. "I'm no expert, but doesn't everything in the world emit aura? Lucario, you're supposed to be able to see anything and everything! So how come… I mean, you ran right into her!"

"Is she…" Lucario stood up and stared at the statue. "Is she the only one?"

"Hardly…" Link looked down, ashamed for some reason. Behind Peach's statue were three more: Wolf, Captain Falcon, and Meta Knight.

"No! Meta Knight!" Lucario burst out. "Not him too!"

"Yeah, him too," Fox sighed. Lucario shook his head. _'Four people. Stone, not trophies. This is too much!'_

"I've had enough," the pokémon said.

"Come on." Link opened the door again and he, Lucario, and Pit left the room.

"Now that we're out of that gloomy atmosphere," Pit began. "Lucario! Buddy! How're ya doin'? Where ya been? We missed you!"

"Now that I think of it, why aren't you back in the clinic, Pit?" Link scowled.

"Because it stinks and I don't like it." Pit pouted like a child.

Lucario sniffed. "You smell of blood."

"So? I'm better! We had a little fight over here but we pulled through like we always do thanks to our great leader!" Pit raised his eyebrows at Link. The green warrior muttered something about 'eating angelic chicken wings' and looked in the opposite direction. "I'm alive and still kickin'!" Pit continued. "We don't need more gloomy people! Cheer up, Lucario! Do you need a hug?"

Lucario raised his paws in front of him and waved them back and forth. "That's not a good idea…"

"Yeah, right!" Pit jumped on him.

"Pit! SP-" Too late. Pit hugged Lucario tightly, and then leaped off yelping like a wounded puppy. "Spike…" Lucario finished, exasperated.

"Owwie ow. I guess they really do hurt…" Pit laughed out. Link palmed his own face.

"Sometimes, I can't believe the random things you do…" the green warrior sighed. Then a smile crept up on his face and he laughed a little. Even Lucario giggled. _'The tense air has dissipated. What an amazing ability Pit has: to cheer anyone up. Sometimes, that can be the most important power people need,' _the pokémon thought.

"Link, you have a good friend," Lucario commended, nodding to Pit.

Link smiled. "I know…" he whispered.

"You say that like I'm only **his **friend!" Pit pouted. "Jeeze, I know we haven't seen each other in a while and you're kinda solitary, but, I mean, come **on**." The angel's childish look disappeared from his face and was replaced with an older, wiser, and more serious fire in his sky-blue eyes. "Believe it or not, we're in a **war**. This is the time where friends need to support each other. I don't care if it sounds cliché because it's true." Link closed his eyes and nodded slightly. Pit gestured to the Hylian and kept going. "He probably told you the gist of our situation. We **do **need all the help we can get. Your ability to detect and control aura would really help us."

"So," Link finally spoke up. "Will you?"

Lucario nodded. "Of course. I will do my best."

Pit squealed with glee and cheered "GO TEAM!" with lots of pep. Link and Lucario stared at him and sighed in harmony.

"I think I need to check-" they both started.

"-with Sheik about our next move," Link said.

"-on Red and Pikachu in the clinic," Lucario said.

"BOOO! You guys are no fun!" Pit pouted again. He turned to storm off.

"Pit." Link's sharp tone froze the angel in place.

"Okay, okay, I'm goin' back with Lucario. I'm goin' back to the clinic." Pit spun around and slid behind the aura pokémon. Link pointed at his own eyes with two fingers and then turned them at the angel, the "_I'm watching you" _gesture. Then he walked away. Lucario turned and headed to the clinic with Pit right next to him.

Pit mumbled under his breath "I'm so freakin'… invisible… weak… unimportant."

Lucario's ears perked. "You're one of the most important people right now," he countered.

"Huh, what?" Pit exclaimed. "Seriously? All I can do well is cheer people on."

"That's why. You said you're in war. Then this is the time when fighters need to keep their spirits up. You're the perfect motivator… even when you're awkward."

Pit rubbed the back of his head and grinned.

"How'd you get hurt?"

"Oh… uh…" the angel hesitated. "Well, we had a surprise attack by greaps and Link got into a bad spot so…"

"You covered him?"

"Yeah… he got mad…"

Lucario stared at the angel. _'He's stronger on the inside than he looks.'_

"You really do care a lot about your friends," he said with a hint of surprise. They got to the clinic. Red and Lucas were busy inside.

"This is where I bail." Pit grinned. "I am totally fine and am not going in there."

"But, didn't Link-"

"Yeah, he did. Still not doin' it. See ya. I'm gonna snoop in on the battle plan."

"You're going to eavesdrop?"

"I'm nosy. I can't help it." Pit turned and took a few steps. "Oh, and Lucario?"

"…Yes?..."

"You're my friend too, you know." Then Pit dashed down the hall and went through a door. Lucario blinked then smiled, happy to be in place he belonged.

_**(^-^ Please leave reviews of how I did and if any mistakes were made. I mean ANY mistakes: spelling checks, grammatical errors, discontinuity. Once notified, I will attempt to fix them quickly so please, please, please let me know.**_

_**See ya next chapter!)**_


	13. Chapter 7: Handicapped

_**(Hello everyone! This is Xybur7! Welcome to Chapter 7! Ah, I can just tell I'm about to royally screw things over... You'll know why soon... and hopefully you won't want to kill me 'cuz I have a sense someone eventually might... Just read the chapter.**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own anything but the plot. Any and all characters/places/object belong to their respective owners.)**_

Chapter 7: Handicapped

"You're kidding me, right?" Link exclaimed.

Sheik just shook her head and the spirit apparition of Zelda looked away, ashamed. "I'm afraid not," they both said.

"And _I'm _supposed to tell everyone else?" Link tried to keep his voice down. "I have to be the bearer of bad news?" He felt stressed out and tired. Almost all responsibility had been dumped onto him. Mario and Fox averted their eyes from Link's stare.

"Everyone has to know. Especially those of us that use magic." Sheik glanced at Zelda who still avoided eye contact.

"You want me to go tell them they're useless now?" Link punched the table. "Can you imagine how painful that will sound? They'll panic! **I'm **panicking right **now**! I can't just tell them. They'll completely lose hope."

"But if we don't, they'll use their powers anyway and get turned to stone," Fox countered. "It's either we put their **pride **in danger or they **themselves.**"

"It's not fair!" the Hylian exclaimed.

"Link!" Sheik shot out curtly. "Stop acting like a child. We have to do what's right, not what's fair. Everyone needs to know."

Link gritted his teeth then looked toward the doorway as he heard a flutter of feathers and the echoes of quickly fading, running footsteps. "Word's already out," he announced and the other four fighters made small gasps of surprise. _'Dammit, Pit… how much did you hear? Why are you telling them… for… me… Oh, no way.' _

"Okey-dokey. Look-a," Mario piped up. "I agree, it's-a mess. We-a can't-a have the magic users cooped up in-a here but we-a can't-a let them out-a where they are vulnerable. Unfortunately, Link, I have to side with Fox and Sheik-a. Better safe then-a sorry."

"But… I can already think of one person who is _seriously _affected by this decision to not use **any **type of magic!" The green swordsman looked back at the doorway. _'I'm sure a crowd's gonna be here soon.'_

"Link, I'm sure Lucas and Ness can improvise," Sheik assured.

"No! Not them! They have a bat and a yo-yo! They already know how get by without PK. I'm talking about L-"

"Bro! Is it-a true?"

The five fighters stopped arguing and turned to the doorway. Luigi stood up front with an enormous fearful expression with everyone else whispering nervously and worriedly behind him.

"Fox, are you kidding me?" Falco also stepped up.

"Si, Luigi," Mario sighed. "It's-a true."

"Yeah… No, don't kill me, Falco," Fox sighed.

"Wait, what are you all doing?" Sheik shouted. "Aren't you all injured?"

Lucas squirmed to the front. "We got done faster with Red. But enough, we really can't use our powers anymore?"

"Yes," Sheik answered sharply. "I gathered info on Peach's petrification, Fox's recording, and our previous battles. Every time someone used a type of magical attack, the violet lightning struck soon afterwards. About a 5 second delay. We're making this decision with all of your safety in mind."

"_Ma-teh-_" Ness crawled through and stood next to Lucas. "Hold on. Define magic."

"Well… It's when…" Sheik stuttered, now stumped.

"It's when you expend your own life force for an action that cannot be executed by physical means." The crowd moved apart and glanced at the guardian who had spoken up, Lucario.

"Couldn't have said it better, Lucario," Zelda said then whispered, "Don't like being outdone, Sheik?"

"Shut- Please be quiet, Princess." The ninja quickly regained her composure. "That is correct," she agreed. Kirby's and Fox's eyes began to widen.

"Lucario, did you say 'life force'?" Marth asked.

"Yes," the pokémon nodded. "Life force. Energy. Aura. They're the same. Believe it or not, one's aura doesn't flare much at all when attempting physical force like punching or kicking, regardless of how much strength one is using. Only when one concentrates that energy into its own physical form does one's aura grow."

"Then whatever's behind the lightning must be targeting the energy flares!" Pit exclaimed.

"Right," Sheik confirmed. "That includes the Mario Bros' fireballs, Ike's Eruption, pokémon special moves, Kirby's copy ability-"

"Oh NOOOO!" Kirby burst out crying. "Then it really **is **my fault Meta Knight's a statue! I shouldn't have copied him when I got angry!"

"Falco's Fire Bird and my Fire Fox too?" Fox asked solemnly.

"Yo! Don't chu pull me into this!" Falco yelled.

"You're already involved. Quit complaining. Sheik? My Fire Fox?"

"Yes, your Fire Fox is included." Sheik closed her eyes and nodded.

"Ouch." Falco winced. "When he gets back up, you're wolf bait, Foxy."

"… Thanks…" Fox covered his eyes with his hand.

Sheik went back to listing. "Lucas and Ness, your psychokinetic powers count… Zeldaaaa…" The ninja gave the princess a challenging death-glare. Zelda snapped her fingers and made a few sparks fly.

"I know," she said.

Sheik continued. "Pit, your Wings of Icarus. Don't use them too often."

The angel grew dark and serious but gave a little cynical smirk. "No need to worry about that."

"Red, I already warned you about the pokémon's **special **moves but there is one big problem with-"

"Sheik, he gets the point," Link cut the ninja off quickly and glanced over to the trainer and the two pokémon with him. Red pet Pikachu and reassured her but Lucario stayed dead silent, with a look of gloom in his wide orange eyes. "We can discuss more on this… dilemma later," Link continued. "I say 'meeting adjourned.'" He was tired and sad. Link could practically see the cloud of doom over the aura pokémon's head. The young green swordsman didn't want to hurt the guardian's pride any more. He walked over to try and comfort Lucario. Pit and Red already had a hand on each shoulder. Lucario breathed in and looked up, trying to mask his despair.

"I'm not going to hide," he said determined.

"Lucario, I'm so sorry." Link clasped his hands together above his head and bowed deeply. "I know this is the worst possible thing that can happen for you. Your technique… it involves almost nothing **but **aura attacks… I'm sorry… You're at a serious disadvantage. But, I didn't want the whole wide world to know."

"I understand." Lucario bowed graciously back. "Thank you. I appreciate what you did."

"So," Red looked down at the three pokéballs on his belt. "I can't let these guys use specials. Pikachu, that means you too. No electricity."

"Ka? Chaaaa-" Pikachu started in a complaining, questioning tone.

"NO!" Pit, Link, Lucario, and Red all said at the same time. Pikachu whimpered.

"Pit," Link said. "No flying. Too risky."

"You can't order me not to fly," the angel answered darkly. Link stepped back, surprised by the sudden grave tone from his friend. "I will **not **let go of my wings." Pit narrowed his eyes. "The lightning doesn't scare me. I will **not** let **anything** take my flight away." Tense silence drifted through the small group. Then, the castle rumbled. Everyone looked up. The castle rumbled again.

"E- Earthquake?" Pit asked nervously, the childish look of worry returning to his eyes. The castle shook again.

"I… don't think so," Marth looked up and around. "Something else…" A piece of debris fell from the ceiling.

"We're being attacked!" Link exclaimed and rushed through the front door. "Damn, I forgot." Over the pile of rocks on the drawbridge, a couple more greaps emerged from the forest and rolled toward the wall. Marth, Lucario, and Pit were the first to catch up.

"Are they trying to bring down the wall?" Pit asked.

"They're trying to bring down the entire fortress!" Link corrected.

"So soon after our last battle." Marth cursed in Japanese.

"And we haven't cleared the bricks!" Link kicked at the rocks in frustration then felt some sort of heat behind him. He turned. Lucario was breathing deeply, surrounded by faint blue fire.

"Move aside." Lucario took a martial art stance and put one paw on the pile of debris. He pulled back an aura-filled palm. "Force… PALM!" The pokémon blew the rocks to bits, clearing the way.

"_Yosh!_" Marth shouted. "_Ikuzo!_" The prince started to run up but Lucario raised his paw in front.

"Step back." The pokémon pushed the prince back, stepped away, and counted. "4. 5-" A violet bolt of lightning struck where the pile of debris had been.

'_5 seconds' _Link realized."NOW!" he shouted. The fighters moved out. The greaps had shoveled in the moat and were ramming into the wall and tearing at it with their scythes. Marth unsheathed Falchion, his sword, leaped like a dolphin and slashed upward at a greap's head. Pit pulled his bow apart into two blades and ran beside Link who readied the Master sword. Link lifted the sword above his head and plunged it into the base of the head. Lucario and Pit jumped together and threw each other up on top of the greaps. Pit landed with one foot on a different greap, then started to slip in between them, stabbing both the heads with his blades. Lucario latched onto one of the scythes' staves and pulled it down like a lever, tipping over the greap and slamming it into another one. Lucario punched the first greap as hard as he could. The monster shuddered and melted into the dark particles. Lucario prepared for another punch, then stopped himself and leaped out of the way of a lightning bolt. Link looked up. Lucario was tense. _'He can't hold back his aura completely!' _The Hylian cursed. By now, the rest of the warriors had arrived and were slowly but surely driving the greaps away from the wall and defeating them. Link moved for Lucario.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" he asked the pokémon who kept his paws closed and the fiery aura extinguished.

"Yes," Lucario got out. "I can handle it." Link turned his attention back to the damaged castle wall. The stones were cracked and pieces fell out every couple of seconds. The greaps were all defeated.

"The castle can't take much more," Link noted. "It may collapse next time."

"The entire thing?" Pit and Lucario asked.

"Yeah, the whole thing." The green swordsman called all the fighters back inside. He looked down solemnly. "Guys, I don't know how long I can stay 'leader.'"

"What are you talking about?" Pit piped up, trying to be cheerful. "You're doing a great job!"

"Pit's correct," Lucario joined in. "Your leadership skills are fine. It's the situation that is a problem."

"Right… But we might need to move." Link looked over the castle one last time before entering again. Cracks and dents covered it from top to bottom. Parts of the roof had fallen in. Many of the windows were shattered and broken. The fighters' fortress was practically in shambles, hardly the elegant Mushroom Castle it once was.

"We can't hold out forever. The old Subspace army will overwhelm us soon. We're going to lose. It's only a matter of time."

_**(So, how'd you like it? Good? Bad? Did I make a grammar/spelling mistake? Please, tell me in a review! I love hearing what you guys think of it and how the chapter made you feel. **_

_**Thank you for taking the time to read my story. It truly means a lot to me. Your support is all the motivation I need.)**_


	14. Chapter 8: On the Verge of Collapse

_**(Hello, everyone! This is Xybur7! In this chapter, yes, I actually do it. It was hinted at in the previous chapter at the end, but now, it will happen. I'm a horrible person, aren't I? I still feel as though I'm about to screw with a lot of people. Well, I guess I'm just gonna have to wait and see, then count all the hate mail...**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own anything but the plot. Any and all characters/places/objects belong to their respective owners.)**_

Chapter 8: On the Verge of Collapse

Lucario opened his eyes after a well-deserved nap. It felt like forever since the pokémon had actually slept instead of keeping one eye open all the time. He yawned and stretched and felt something small, warm and slightly electrified on his lap. He looked down tiredly at the sleeping Pikachu in his lap then to side at Red, passed out beside him. The castle was dead silent. _'Finally, a quiet day,' _the pokémon thought to himself. All the people in the room were fast asleep. Lucario tested his aura sight. Many of the fighters were asleep in the room. A few others were talking around the castle. No twisted aura could be found outside. Lucario homed in on two auras in the banquet hall. One flickered green and the other glowed turquoise with a speck of ruby red on its chest. _'Link and Marth,' _Lucario recognized. _'What are they talking about?' _The pokémon opened his eyes and scanned over the sleeping warriors. He spotted a white wing hanging out of a small bunk on the other side of the room. _'Finally able to ditch Pit, huh?' _Lucario gently lifted Pikachu, placed her beside Red, and carefully hopped over the sleeping fighters. He made his way to the banquet hall where the two swordsmen where talking.

"You're sure it's alright?" Link asked the Altean prince.

"Yes. The primid army immediately ran after me and Ike after we abandoned it. It shouldn't be too much in shambles," Marth answered.

"We're going to move?" Lucario joined in. The swordsmen looked up at the approaching pokémon.

"It's been a few days already and the castle's condition is getting worse," Link started to explain. "The wall, no, our entire fortress is about ready to collapse. We need a new base before this one fails, so I was asking Marth about his castle."

"I was saying Ike and I held out as long as we could," Marth began. "Our castle is so heavily fortified, it had to take **millions** of primids a week to break in. And it was just Ike and me. Two people. Eventually, though, they broke through the siege and got to us. But even then, as soon as we left, they did. The primids weren't interested in destroying the castle, just trying to get to us. So the castle still stands and is much better for a defensive fortress. When we get there and with the amount of warriors here, we can hold the Subspace army back forever."

"Sounds feasible," Lucario agreed. "When do we move?"

"We're discussing that." Link pointed at himself and Marth. "We think soon. We just need to prepare everyone. Umm… where are they?" Lucario and Marth stared at him weirdly.

"Link," Lucario slowly said. "They're all exhausted. They're in the clinic **asleep. **Like you probably should be."

"Oh, right… Yeah, I knew that. I'm, uh, good. Not tired. I'm busy anyway." Link rubbed his face a little. Lucario narrowed his eyes. The Hylian was lying. There were dark circles below his deep blue eyes and his shoulders sagged. His green tunic was slightly smudged with dirt and ripped. Lucario felt just as tired but at least he had given himself a break.

"Uh, Link? When's the last time you've slept?" Marth narrowed his eyes as well and leaned forward, curious.

"For more than a couple of hours," Lucario added.

"Umm… Like… two, three…" Link looked up at the high ceiling and started raising his fingers one by one. Marth and Lucario stared in shock as he counted. "Little more than a week…" Link finally answered. "Why you ask?" Both Marth and Lucario blinked.

"Link! You **need** sleep!" the pokémon burst out.

"Uh, yeah, I'll get to that." Link brushed it off groggily. "Anyway, Marth, you're sure your castle's ready at any time?"

"Well, yes," Marth answered. "I'll go tell Ike that we're going back." He gave a worried glance at Link before walking briskly to the clinic. Link turned, half asleep and stumbled. Lucario leaped forward and caught him.

"What have you been doing all this time?" the pokémon asked the tired warrior.

"Battle plans, moving plans, meetings, checking injured, arranging rooms, tending the statues… fighting… more fighting…" Link listed a few.

"I can just imagine how tired you are." _'In fact,' _Lucario thought _'it feels like I'm just as tired. That nap didn't do a thing.' _

Link sat down and sighed. "It's like I'm in charge of everything! I feel like I can't take a break. I feel bad too, that we're gonna abandon Peach's castle soon. Aw man…"

"Link!" Zelda shimmered into the room in her spirit form. "And Lucario! How are you doing?"

"Tired," the pokémon answered.

"Not," Link said as he rubbed his eyes.

"I'm sorry…" the princess apologized politely.

"I was just with Marth talking 'bout relocating to his castle," Link said.

"How soon?"

"Soon. Thanks, Lucario, for, uh, not letting me fall. Usually Pit does that but I didn't wanna wake him."

"Of course. You're welcome." Lucario nodded. Then the pokémon's eyes widened and he glanced down at his feet. Something rumbled deeply beneath the ground.

"Lucario? What's wrong? What do you sense?" Zelda asked quickly.

"Eh- earthquake? I don't feel one," Link said. Lucario moved his feet a little and put one paw on the ground. The rumbling suddenly grew more violent. "O-o-okay, I-I-I f-feel it-it n-now!" Link exclaimed. Lucario closed his eyes and focused. He shot his mind's eye around the castle. At the edge of the bordering forest, large spherical auras appeared out of nowhere and rolled straight for the castle.

'_Great Giratina!...' _Lucario's eyes shot open. "TAKE COVER-!" The entire castle shook as the wave of greaps rammed the outside walls. The force vibrated throughout the fortress and cracked the walls and ceiling. Blocks descended from above. Link and Lucario screamed and dove out from under the large falling rubble. Zelda shrieked and disappeared within rocks.

"ZELDA!" Link screeched and ran against the rocks, pounding them with his fists. "ZELDA!"

"Link! I'm fine!"

Link and Lucario jumped a little as Zelda's transparent spirit pushed right through the solid rocks. The princess huffed a little and caught her breath.

"My goodness! That frightened me!" She looked back at the pile behind her and put one hand over her heart. "Look, Link. I'm okay! I'm okay. I can't be harmed, alright? I'm okay." Link breathed heavily and his sad, blue eyes welled up with tears like a child.

"Nearly gave me a heart attack!" He wiped his eyes with his hands. The castle rattled again, and two loud crashes sounded. "What's going on now?" Link shouted.

"Greaps!" Lucario exclaimed. "They're running over themselves to ram the castle! They're going to bring the castle down with us inside!"

"Oh my god! What is going on?" Marth and Ike rushed into the room.

"The castle's crumbling!" Link and Lucario answered at the same time.

"Okay, that's it," Link started to strategize. "Marth, Ike, I hope **your **castle's ready 'cause we're getting out of here. Let's go." Marth and Ike nodded and rushed into front door. It didn't budge. Lucario focused with his aura sight on the other side of the door. There was nothing but a wall of rocks.

"No good! The overhang broke again! There's rubble blocking it," Lucario announced.

"That must have been what one of the crashes was," Zelda pondered.

"Plan B." Link switched quickly. "Back door. Zelda, could you _safely _secure the route with Marth and Ike?" The Hylian stressed the word 'safely' incredibly. Zelda nodded once and swiftly dissipated behind the back wall. "Lucario, direct everyone from the clinic this way. I'm going for the statues so tell Fox, Falco, Mario, and Luigi to head my way." The pokémon was taken aback by the young swordsman's tactical change in personality but nodded as well and rushed toward the clinic. A crowd was already evacuating the clinic. Lucario focused with his aura sight as fast as he could and filtered through the panicked group of fighters. The castle shook again and more small pieces of rubble fell from the ceiling.

"Starfox! Mario Brothers!" Lucario called out. Two people called out "Here!" and a green and red cap bounced up and down in response. "Link needs you in the statue room!" The four fighters pushed through the crowd. "Everyone! Get to the banquet hall and go through the back! Calmly!" Lucario pointed the way and waved people through the rumbling, crumbling hall.

"Lu-Lucario!" Pikachu bounded beneath the feet of the fighters and leaped into the aura guardian's arms. The electric pokémon hiccupped and shuddered against his chest. "I was so scared! The rumbling-! The crash-! I woke up and- and you weren't there! And you were gone-! Red and I didn't know where you-! I thought- I thought something bad happened to- I was so scared!"

"I'm sorry I scared you…" Lucario hugged Pikachu close. _'She's the only one I can do this to.' _The thought floated through the aura guardian's mind. _'My… cursed… spikes. No one can get close.'_ "You're alright, correct?" He patted her head carefully.

"Yes, but the clinic!" Pikachu exclaimed.

"What?"

"The ceiling collapsed!"

Lucario gasped. "As in-!"

"The clinic's been divided in half!"

"…There's only one door… Did anyone?..."

"Yeah!"

Lucario pushed himself into the destroyed clinic. True enough, the ceiling had fallen in and practically buried the middle of the room with rocks. Broken bed posts stuck out from beneath the pile and pieces of sheets flapped in the intruding wind from above.

"The second crash…" Lucario realized and looked up though the small hole. "Part of one of the towers broke off and fell."

"Lucario?" Red poked his head in. "You're okay! I was worried and Pikachu freaked out!"

"Red, good." _'My turn to nearly have a heart attack.' _Lucario breathed out. "Red, go with the others out the back."

"Wait, what? What are we doing?" The trainer exclaimed, confused.

"We're moving bases."

"Now?

"Right now. Go!"

Red reluctantly turned and ran. Lucario put one paw against the stone pile and focused. There was a small yellow-pink aura shivering while a brilliant white one was pulling another small blue-red aura out from under some little pieces of wood and rock. The brilliant white aura patted the yellow-pink one's head and successfully saved the other small aura, flapping its wings in excitement. _'Wings!' _

"Pit! Are you on the other side!" Lucario called out.

"Huh?" the aura gave a muffled reply. "Yeah! It's me, Pit! Who's-"

"Lucario!"

"Oh!... Hey! Hi! How're ya doin'?"

"You're okay?"

"Fine! I've got Ness and Lucas over here with me. They're both okay too. Man, how're we gonna get out?" Another crash. Lucario hugged Pikachu closer and heard Ness and Lucas shriek as Pit covered them. "Hey, hey! What good timing!" The pokémon heard Pit exclaim. "There's a hole in the wall, Lucario! We're using it to escape!"

"Make your way to the back."

"Gotcha! Come on, kids! Let's scram!"

Lucario pressed his ear against the pile and heard the scrambling of rocks as the boys slipped through the busted hole. The pokémon got out of the decimated clinic, started for the banquet hall but bumped right into Link.

"Link? I thought you were moving the statues!" Lucario exclaimed.

"The guys said they could handle it," the Hylian huffed out. "We're missing people. I came back to check."

"The clinic collapsed. Lucas, Ness, and Pit were trapped on the other side moments ago-" Link breathed in sharply at Pit's name. "-but another wall was destroyed recently for them to go through." Link breathed out again.

"Alright then," Link said then screamed at the top of his lungs, "PIT!"

All of them could hear a very muffled "Yes?" from behind the wall.

"YOU GET OUT AND DO NOT COME BACK IN!" Link shouted.

Another muffled reply sounded. "…Okay…"

"That's that. Now, let's go!" Link and Lucario took off down the hallway, Pikachu still held in the aura pokémon's arms. The castle rumbled again from the force of the greaps' ramming. More crashes echoed distantly throughout the castle and reverberated off of the crumbling walls. Zelda flew in beside the running pair, shimmering and sparkling in her spirit form.

"Mostly everyone has evacuated," she informed.

"The rest are on their way," Link quickly assured.

"Good, but we must hurry. Mushroom Castle is weak. I don't think it will stand much longer." As soon as the princess finished, the fighters turned the corner. Another deep, jerking rumble and the rest of the hallway ceiling and wall fell. Lucario put on the brakes and snatched Link back, away from the collapsing bricks. The two fighters stared at the impeding rubble and the Hylian warrior combed his bronze hair with his hands.

"For the love of Nayru-" Link began to curse.

"It's impossible for us to crawl over that," Lucario stated bitterly. Link raised an eyebrow as he looked at the top of the pile of debris.

"Us? No," Link agreed. "But there's enough space for something small to squeeze through. Like a mouse." He pointed to the top right of the pile. The rocks and bricks had shifted to one side, leaving an empty hole connecting to the banquet hall. Lucario looked down to face the small, shivering electric pokémon in his arms who was staring at the hole as well.

"Pikachu," he began.

"No, no, no…" Pikachu repeated over and over, half crying, as she wrapped her tiny arms as far around him as she could and buried her little face in Lucario's chest.

"Pikachu, please."

"No. No. No! I don't wanna leave you! No!"

"Please. You'll be safe-"

"No! No!"

"Please! For me!"

Pikachu looked up with huge, watery dark brown eyes, her black-tipped ears drooping.

"For me," Lucario repeated, almost whispering. Pikachu sniffed and gave a couple of small nods.

Link looked up at the princess hovering slightly above him. "Prin- Zelda, would you please guide Pikachu out safely?

"Of course, Link," Zelda answered gently and calmly. "Just promise me you'll catch up quickly?"

Link gulped. "I- I'll try, my princess." Zelda gave a tiny groan, not receiving the response she wanted, and flew part-way through the debris. Lucario carefully lifted Pikachu up to the hole and helped her squeeze through. Zelda coaxed the small mouse over on the other side and beckoned her to follow.

"Link! Lucario! See you soon!" Pikachu and Zelda called out one last time before bounding off.

"Yes… " Link and Lucario's answers died down to almost a whisper. "See you soon." Then the two warriors looked at each other, mildly surprised to be in harmony. The castle shook violently again and more of the hallway's ceiling collapsed, filling in the hole Pikachu recently slipped through and more of the alley. Lucario focused his mind and looked ahead through the other hallways and doors. _'The only true way out is through the banquet hall...' _Lucario realized. _'If we go this way and… got it! There's our path!' _The pokémon ran down the hallway a little, then turned and waved at Link.

"Come! Follow!" Lucario called out. "We don't want to keep them waiting, do we?" Link gave a small smile and rushed after him while the entire castle tried to crush them from within.

_**(What do you think? Please write a review! Tell me how you felt about it, or if I made any mistakes. Thank you so much for reading my story! See ya next chapter...)**_


	15. Chapter 9: Ruin

_**(Hello everyone, this is Xybur7. **_

_**There is a flashback and spoiler to LoZ: Twilight Princess. Just be warned. Please remember to review. I do enjoy seeing how you guys felt and what you have to say about the chapters. After that, I have nothing more to say but 'thank you' and 'I'm sorry for later.'**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own anything but the plot. Any and all characters/places/objects belong to their respective owners.)**_

Chapter 9: Ruin

Link's feet pounded against the ground as kept up with his pokémon guide. All the while, parts of the roof and towers crumbled and fell into the hallway, narrowly missing Lucario as he nimbly weaved in and out of the way. More than once, the fighters had to stop in their tracks and rethink their path as the rocks blocked the halls and rooms. Lucario pointed in one direction and Link ran up and turned with him.

"How close are we from the exit?" He asked as they ducked cracking wooden beams.

"Physically, we're close. Technically, we're not." Lucario smacked a falling brick away from his head. "The only way out is through the back of the banquet hall. We have to keep taking the long way."

"That's fine- Woops!" Link nearly tripped on a broken flag pole that had fallen into the hallway. The fighters turned a corner and rushed to the end of the hall. The greaps sent another enormous shudder through the castle and the hallway started to collapse in on itself, starting from in front of Lucario.

"Back up! Back up!" Link grabbed Lucario's paw and ran back to where they turned as the roof fell behind them. Something incredibly large crashed outside and shook the castle. The two looked around, afraid the rest of the hallway would collapse on them.

"Lucario, what happened just now? What was that huge crash?" Link hurriedly asked.

"The… the greaps have taken down the outer wall," the pokémon squeezed his eyes shut. "They've gotten to the castle proper."

"We need a new route."

"Working on it…" Lucario moved his head around, searching with his aura sight. "Found it! This way." The fighters backtracked through the hallway as the castle shook harder. "Little further. Almost there." Lucario announced as Link caught up again and passed him. "We're taking the second left," the pokémon instructed. _'Oh goddesses above, help me,' _Link pleaded as they rushed through the collapsing hallway.

"I see it!" Link exclaimed. The left turn they needed came into view at the far end of the hall. The earth started to rumble. Link reached out. Lucario turned his head to the right wall and gasped.

"Link! Look out!" the pokémon shouted. Suddenly, the right wall exploded into pieces like rock shrapnel, slamming Lucario into the left wall. Link screamed out in pain and fell, a large greap scythe imbedded in his upper right arm and shoulder. _'It hurts! It's really deep!' _Link bit his tongue and grabbed the staff of the scythe with his left hand. His Triforce mark shined brightly for a second as he pushed the scythe out of his arm. The castle was shaking violently from the greap's ramming. More bricks and wooden beams fell from the ceiling, partly covering the injured swordsman. Link smacked it off and drew his Master sword with no shield, his right arm hanging limply as the blood dripped down to the fingers. Link spun to add more force and slammed the scythe out of the hallway, spinning the greap around. Then he flipped the sword in his hand and plunged it into the greap's soft red head. Lucario had gotten back up and was fending off another greap with one paw. The greap rolled back, spun, then rammed right back into the wall, slicing downwards at Lucario. The pokémon slipped between the two scythes and used an aura-packed uppercut on the greap's head. The pokémon quickly jumped back inside the hallway as the greap faded into dark particles and dissipated. A violet lightning bolt struck partway in the hallway and the entire fortress rumbled like crazy. All around the two fighters were the crashes of thunder and chaos. Link rushed over and half dragged Lucario around the left corner, away from the main collapsing section, and backed into a wall. The section of hallway had also fallen and blocked the way.

"Damn it…" Link cursed as he looked at the obstacle discouragingly.

"Link, are you okay?" Lucario reached over to the Hylian's shoulder wound but stopped with his paw over it, not touching.

"It stings but it'll be fine for now. I'll deal with it later. How about you? You hit the wall pretty hard." Link looked up at Lucario's limp right arm. Blood ran down the pokémon's arm and parted around the spike on his paw. A huge red gash stood on the aura guardian's upper arm in stark contrast to his blue fur. Lucario caught Link's stare and moved the arm behind him and covered the gash with his other paw.

"I am alright. I feel the same," the pokémon stated. "My wound's not important right now." They both looked the pile of debris up and down.

"The rocks aren't in too big of chunks like the others," Link noticed. "Maybe we can dig through-" Lucario quickly hopped up and started pulling down as many rocks and wood as he could with one arm. Link opened and closed his right hand and helped.

"Thanks," he said as he yanked down a large wooden beam.

"Welcome," Lucario answered, then pushed against pile with his foot to help pull another beam away.

"Is everyone out yet?" More small chunks of brick were swept off from the top. Lucario closed his eyes and the four ribbon-like lumps on the back of his head rose.

"It appears so," the pokémon confirmed as he continued to clear the way. "Zelda and Pikachu made it out. I believe Sheik is trying to round them all up… Teal blue and white… Marth and Pit are… arguing?"

"About what?"

"I do not know… Ah, a flash of aura! Pit's flying back in!"

"He's WHAT?"

"I… think he's coming back to get us." Lucario reopened his eyes and glanced at Link.

Link scowled. "I told him not to!"

"He doesn't like to listen."

"Obviously!" The pair pulled one more large rock and the pile sank, leaving enough room between the top of the mound and the still-intact ceiling for them to crawl over. Link squeezed through, flipped, and fell on his right side. He breathed in sharply and hissed, then forced himself up and pulled Lucario through. The castle gave another enormous rumble and moaned.

"We need to get out of here fast!" Link yelled over the creaking and moaning of the castle. "We should be almost there!" The pair took off down the hall toward the light at the end of their tunnel. They stopped in their tracks as a large support beam fell in front of them in the large banquet hall. Rocks and grey bricks were falling everywhere but for the middle, where they could already see the darkening sky through the gaping hole above.

"I found you guys!"

The fighters looked up to the back part of the room. Pit flew over to the middle of the room with his orange wings.

"Hurry! Let's go!" The angel called down to them and pointed toward the back. Lucario sniffed and his fur rose on end.

"Static…" he noted, then his eyes widened with realization. Link realized at the same time.

"PIT! MOVE!" he yelled in warning. Pit took a brief glance up. He was out in the open, under the electrified sky. The angel jerked sideways as the purple lightning leaped down at him, then gasped and doubled over. Immediately after the violent violet flash, the orange sparks around his wings vanished. Much to Lucario's startled surprise and Link's shock and horror, Pit plummeted to the ground and landed behind some debris with a thud.

"He- he fell?" Lucario stuttered, astonished.

"Oh no… Oh no, no, no! Pit!" Link called out to his angelic friend. _'Oh goddesses, was he struck? Is he turning to stone? Please, don't let that be happening!'_ Link pleaded as he rushed through the gauntlet of falling stones._ 'No, Pit, no. Just… oh please, goddesses above, don't do this to me! Don't take him away! Don't take anyone else away!'_

Link ducked under a fallen board and ran to his suffering friend's side. Pit was curled into a ball on his side, grasping at his chest with his knees tucked in. Many white feathers around him smoked as he clenched his jaw and squeezed his eyes shut. Link looked the angel all over to check for stone spots and tried to help sit him up. Lucario slipped in beside them quickly. Pit squirmed and gasped and moaned and screamed in pain. Link brought Pit closer to him.

"I don't understand!" Link looked up at Lucario helplessly. "He didn't get struck! What's wrong with him?" Lucario bent down and put one paw against Pit's forehead, looked at the still slightly smoking wings, then moved the paw down against the angel's chest. The pokémon looked Pit over powerlessly before closing his eyes to see his aura.

"His aura seems fine! I… don't know- wait," Lucario stopped and leaned forward a little. "Why didn't I see those before?"

"What? What do you see?" Link hugged his guiding light protectively.

"It… hurts…" Pit moaned and tried to curl up more.

"There are… black spots floating inside him," Lucario described. "Not a lot but there are definitely black patches in his normally pure white aura."

"Black splotches…" Link thought hard. "Dark, black… dark… Dark energy! The monsters from Subspace have always been filled with dark energy! And Pit was injured by a greap a few days ago!"

"You think that energy seeped into his wound?"

"I know so!"

The castle gave another huge rumble and the fighters realized how much faster it was crumbling.

"We need to go-" Lucario noticed something else. "Someone else is coming back in."

"No!" Link exclaimed as he hefted Pit up with one arm over his shoulder. "Nobody else needs to come **in**! We need to get **out**!" Lucario put Pit's other arm around his shoulder and the two of them, Lucario and Link, started to make their way out from under the sky toward the back door. Pit finally started breathing evenly and opened his clouded sky eyes slightly.

"Sorry… I didn't… listen…" he apologized.

"You're fine, Pit," Link answered, gratefully.

"You're… not… mad?"

"No, just scared out of my mind." Link scoffed at himself. "Feh, I'm the Hero of Courage? What a cruel joke."

Pit straightened out, touched his feet on the ground, and started to walk though still somewhat supported by the other two. The group made it back under the high ceiling and navigated the maze made by the fallen rocks, wood, and glass. The earth roared and the world shook again with frightening force, causing the trio to yell and stop in the narrow space between two boulders. Something enormous broke and crashed above them. Only Pit looked up while Lucario and Link kept their eyes on the ground to avoid falling. The entire castle creaked and the ceiling groaned in the tremor. Link took a second to survey the scene of destruction around him. The young Hylian looked back down and shook his head hopelessly as Lucario gave him a concerned glance. The ceiling groaned again and Link closed his eyes and shook his head harder.

"We're not gonna make it out in time," Link quietly cried out as a shadow began to loom over them. "We're gonna die…"

"No… you'renot…" Pit mumbled out as the shadow grew larger around them. Suddenly, Pit jerked his arms out of Lucario and Link's grasps and shoved them both forward and to the ground. Link turned as he fell and, for a split second, caught a quick glimpse of the piece of the ceiling falling down above them. Then the next second, dust exploded into the air as the rock slammed into the ground, shattering the bordering debris. Link stared at the wreckage, stupefied by the giant boulder that nearly fell upon them. Flipping and gently floating in front of him in the air were two glowing white feathers that softly landed in Link's hand. He instinctively closed a fist around the feathers and held them for a moment. Link's heart sank like the dust cloud that was slowly floating away in the now intruding stormy wind. Link scrambled up and dashed to the base of the boulder. The Hylian warrior reached down and grabbed Pit's dirty, bruised hand with both of his. Slowly, he ran one hand over the splayed out wings that felt warm to his touch.

"P- Pit?" Link whispered, his composure slowly crumbling away like the castle, tears falling like the rocks. "Oh, fair Farore… no… Pit? Pit? NO!" Link looked up at the boulder that lay atop the angel's lower body. The green Hylian felt a firm hold on his shoulder and someone black and blue bent down and put a paw in front of Pit's mouth.

"He's still breathing," Lucario noted.

"Can- can he- his legs-" Link hiccupped and stuttered like a child. Lucario bent low and practically stuck his snout beneath the rock.

"It's caught on the other bordering rocks. He's pinned but not crushed." Lucario came out and looked pathetically down at Link like a lost child as well.

"I can't leave him here."

Another light filled Lucario's eyes and he nodded. The pokémon snarled at the rock with defiance, slammed against it, and pushed. Link shook Pit gently and called for him to wake up. Pit slowly came to.

"Oww… my back hurts now…" he said groggily.

"Of course it hurts, you dummy!" Link practically screamed, then let out a huge sigh of relief. "You took another hit for me."

"Are you mad?"

"No… just scared out of my mind. You need to try to squirm out. Lucario and I are going to get this rock off of you."

"Doin' the worm… Sweet."

Link smiled. _'If he can crack jokes like that, he's gonna be okay.' _Link stood up and pushed against the boulder. Pit clawed at the floor, weakly at first, then stronger, and slowly began to wiggle his way out. The castle rumbled. More rocks and bricks fell apart. Something cracked above the trio and they all looked up. Another large piece ceiling broke part-way and leaned downward, still supported by the weakening wooden beams.

"Guys!" Pit yelled as he tried to pull himself out. "That thing's right above us! It's gonna fall any second!"

"Then- we- better- get you- out!" Lucario grunted as he pushed harder against the boulder. Link bent down closer to Pit and grabbed his arms.

"You wouldn't leave me behind. I'm not leaving you behind." Link put one foot against the rock and pushed against it. Link tried to pull the angel out from under the heavy burden as the ceiling piece slipped further and further.

"Guys… You need to go!' Pit started to plead. "I didn't listen! I didn't obey! I have no one to blame but myself for getting caught! I came back in to get you out! So… so…"

"We're not leaving you behind!" Both Link and Lucario snapped at the same time the last support beam did and released the rock from above. Lucario yelped and ducked down. Pit screamed. Link shouted as he threw himself over Pit.

"Nayru's Love!"

Suddenly, a brilliant blue crystal formed above the trio and the boulder smashed into it. Shining blue crystal shards erupted from the large main one and shattered the rock into pieces that blew every which way. One large piece of the rock shot against the boulder so hard that the boulder rolled back.

_**1…**_

Pit squirmed and kicked his legs free quickly and, with Link and Lucario's help, stood back up.

_**2…**_

Link stepped away from the pokémon and angel and reached out for the brilliant blue crystal floating just a few inches above his head. The crystal disappeared and the shining spirit of a princess spun around, her dress fluttering out like a leaf.

_**3…**_

"Zelda…" Link breathed out. "You also came back for us…" The spirit princess gave a sweet smile.

_**4… **_

"Of course, Link," Zelda said. "My childhood friend… You're very important to m-"

_**5…**_

The world flashed violet. The thunder roared and rumbled throughout the castle, the deafening sound matched only by the earsplitting scream. Link shielded his eyes from the blinding lightning for a brief second then looked back up to Zelda. He caught his breath. His heart skipped a beat. He stood as still as stone as the spirit of the wise princess slowly sank to the ground, little violet sparks flying up from her body toward the sky. Zelda sank downward to the floor on her knees and Link sank with her. The princess clenched her hands above her heart and bent over. Her apparition flickered. At some points, she was as bright as a star, and at others, she became so faint she was hardly visible. More royal purple sparkles rose from her and around her. Zelda breathed hard.

"We… were… wrong…" She barely whispered.

"Z- Zelda?" Link leaned forward, hands poised as if ready to catch her if she fell. ""I thought… you couldn't- couldn't be harmed… You- you just were- were… hit… You're… fading… "

_A wolf whined beside a mortally injured female imp. A cloaked figure kneeled beside them both and extended a hand to the dying imp. The imp weakly touched the hand and pleaded. The wolf looked up and down at the two, too distressed to listen to a word they said. The hooded woman, with a face much like Zelda's looked down with concern, pity, and sadness. The little imp felt it was her time. The woman like Zelda closed both hands over the imps and golden light started to encompass them. The wolf took a step back and watched in awe. The imp looked over herself, startled and surprised as she began to float and heal. The robed figure gave a soft, sweet smile, much like Zelda's. The imp's big orange eyes widened with realization. She turned her head to the wolf with alarm._

"_Link! Stop her now!" she shouted. But it was too late. The woman like Zelda gave one last smile before dissipating, leaving only a few golden sparkles to mark where she had just been. The imp put her little stumpy feet on the ground, good as new, but solemn. The wolf padded beside her, sniffed at the golden spot and whined. The hooded woman had faded away and there was nothing they could do._

Link blinked away the emerging tears. _'Oh goddesses, is that what's happening now?' _"You're fading!" he choked out.

Zelda glanced up with glossy silver eyes. "Something's… tugging me… Trying to pull me away… I can't… hold on…"

"No! You have to hold on! Don't fade!" Link pleaded on his hands and knees.

"… Mushroom castle… has fallen…" Zelda gave a tired look up at the sky as more violet lights flew around her.

"Please, don't fade! Please! I-I need you! Don't leave…" the nearly broken warrior begged. "I can't fight this war without you." Zelda looked back at Link, her arms across her chest as if trying to keep herself together.

"Yes… you can…" she said as her eyes welled up with tears as well. "Link… you are one of the strongest soldiers I have known. You are a brave warrior… guardian… protector… hero…"

"I'm not brave!" Link cried. "I can't do it without you! I'm not brave at all! I can't do anything right! I can't be a leader! I can't be a hero!" Pit gasped and hiccupped behind him and Lucario stood transfixed with shock and sadness.

"Yes… you can," Zelda repeated. "Believe in yourself… You **can**..."

"Not without you…" the broken boy's plea turned into a sobbing whisper. The purple sparkles glittered more brightly around the fading princess as a faint column of violet light shined over her.

"Link… I'm so sorry… I failed you…"

Link looked up at her, thick tears streaming down his cheeks, reflecting in her sparkling silver eyes. Golden tears lined the contour of the princess's fair face.

"I… haven't been a very good friend… though we've known each other for a long time… Just… heed my words… They are true… You are a superior warrior… and a perfect friend… Everyone… Mario… Marth… Sheik… Lucas, Ness… Pit… they need you… They truly need you… You must be there for them… You're the best leader they have… Be… a… courageous… one…"

Slowly, as if drifting off to sleep, Zelda closed her eyes and began to fall forward, almost floating downward like a petal fluttering away from a wilting rose. Link gasped and reached his hands out to catch her and support her to no avail. The shining spirit passed through his hands, not even leaving warmth and burst into tiny violet lights. Link stared in shock at his empty hands as the lights swirled around and shot off to the heavens. As soon as the light vanished among the clouds, a golden flash bounced back out. Link turned his hands over and back again, distraught and dismayed, as the little golden light twinkled and dripped down from the stormy sky, like a tiny drop of water foreshadowing the coming of rain. The golden tear fell slowly past the Hylian's face and made a tiny splash on his left hand. Link closed his hands into fists, the Triforce mark on his left hand shining but for the top triangle. Link let out a loud wail of frustration and sorrow. He howled and screamed an incomprehensible cry as his world crumbled to ruin like the castle that surrounded him.


	16. Chapter 10: A Link to the Past

_**(Hello! This is Xybur7. Sorry it's been a while. I had a bit of writer's block, couldn't figure out how I was gonna continue. Sorry there's no awesome action and if it's boring and about the, um, drama last chapter and in this one... [maybe I need to add that tag...] **__**Anyway, remember to leave a review!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own anything but the plot. Any and all characters/places/objects belong to their respective owners.)**_

Chapter 10: A Link to the Past

Lucario walked solemnly behind a majority of the group as they marched through the deep, red canyon. At the front of the pack was Prince Marth, the middle was Sheik, and the back was the pokémon, Pit, and Link. Everyone had left the Mushroom ruins behind in hopes that Marth's castle offered better protection from the old Subspace Army. While many were talking amongst themselves, the back stayed silent, as if in mourning. Lucario stared into space, deep in thought. Someone called to him and he looked around, and then down. Pikachu walked beside him, head cocked to the side, eyes filled with concern.

"You okay?" she asked. Lucario bent down and offered his paw. Pikachu jumped on and the aura pokémon lifted her so she could hop on his left shoulder.

"I am… but…" he answered but glanced back at Link.

"What happened in there? I'm glad to see the angel's okay but, um…. Where's Princess Zelda?"

Lucario took a sharp breath in and looked away. Pikachu's long, pointed ears drooped.

"It… was the lightning… wasn't it…"

"Yes, but, the thing is-" Lucario stopped and glanced back at Link again. The Hylian had been looking down the entire trip, with his bangs completely obscuring his eyes. Lucario quietly started again, this time, telepathically private to Pikachu. "The thing is Zelda was only a spirit. And yet, the bolt still struck her. And then… I watched her disappear. Not just her appearance, but her aura as well. It has vanished. I can't sense it anymore… And I'm confused because… I just don't know exactly what happened."

"So she's gone… Not Zelda…" Pikachu lamented. "Poor Link… I know they knew each other well… I can't imagine how sad he is right now."

"That's another thing," Lucario continued guiltily. "Inside, Pit also nearly got struck. Soon after, he sacrificed himself to save us from being crushed by the falling ceiling. There was a second there that I felt absolutely powerless. I've never felt like that before." _'Except when you were nearly struck as well.' _"And then, when Zelda stepped in to save us and was struck down, we couldn't do anything but watch. It felt… wrong. I felt as if I were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Watching Zelda fade like that and Link breaking down… I feel ashamed to have seen it and not have been able to do a thing."

Pikachu listened intently to her Lucario's confession as Sheik slowed down to walk with them.

"Link! Take my place in the middle of the group!" she ordered. Link said nothing but slowly overtook Lucario, Pikachu, and Sheik . As he passed, Lucario caught a quick glimpse of the look in the broken warrior's eyes. They had no shine or sparkle. The blue in them was lackluster and dull. Link stared lifelessly downward and briskly marched toward the middle of the moving group. Pit stumbled after him, stuttering in an apology while wearing an incredibly shamefaced expression. Sheik watched them go then looked down at the blue canine pokémon with red daggers for eyes. Such a sense of fury filled the air around them that Lucario silently but nervously gulped.

"What. The hell. Happened. In that. Damn. Castle?" Sheik practically spat out every word. Pikachu squeaked with fear and ran around to Lucario's other shoulder. Lucario gave a little hiss of pain. Pikachu startled at the sight of the wound, licked it a couple of times as an apology, and then hopped off. Lucario glanced sheepishly up at Sheik and retold the story. The ninja's rage lessened after every word until finally she wore the same sad face as the pokémon.

"I see," she said after he was done. "No wonder I can't feel her anymore…"

"What did she mean exactly when she said 'we were wrong'?" Lucario asked.

"I had been taking note of how the lightning targeted us what the consequences were," Sheik explained. "When a person was struck, they turned to stone. We thought that one needed a **body **to be hit, that the body was turning to stone. But now that Zelda's gone…"

"That may not be the case," Lucario finished and turned his head back to Link. "I feel as though I shouldn't have been there, as though it wasn't something I was supposed to see."

"Why?" Sheik gave a confused look at the aura pokémon. "You did nothing wrong."

"… I… perhaps… but… I know Zelda and Link shared a close bond… The way it all played out… I know he's badly hurt inside."

"There it is! There's the castle!" someone yelled out from the crowd. The group passed out of the canyon and right before them was the mighty fortress. The proud, tattered banner of Altea whipped in the wind above the towering walls. Everyone gave a small cheer as Marth opened the doors for them to come in. Footsteps echoed loudly in the empty expanse of the main hall.

"Time to set up…" Sheik mumbled, then turned back to Lucario. "Do you want to know why Link is hurt so badly?"

"Well…" Lucario was slightly taken aback by the question. "Yes. I am concerned. He seems so… dead. Even his aura has dimmed considerably since it flashed so bright in Mushroom castle."

"Huh? It flashed? Odd… Link can't use magic…" the ninja mulled, then shook her head. "Whatever. I'm asking if you want to hear his story."

"But… shouldn't he be the one to tell me? When he feels like it of course-"

"He'll never talk about it. That's why he's a bit of an outcast. Trust me; someone else has to do it for him."

'_Link never talks about his past?' _Lucario blinked with mild surprise. _'I guess that makes two of us.' _

"So? Do you really want to understand what he's truly going through right now?"

"Yes. I do."

"Good. Help me set up the new clinic and I'll tell you."

"No one really knew his parents. The mother died during childbirth and the father was mortally injured in some unknown battle when he was born. The father carried his son through the doors of Hyrule Castle and to the feet of the king, begging for the royal family to care for the baby. At first, the king would not accept him and even argued with the wounded parent. Eventually, though, the king took pity upon the dying man and agreed take the infant in. When the king finally said 'yes,' the man smiled and said:

'_My chains of regret have been broken. My one link to life is now safe to have his own.' _

Then the man died there, on the steps of the throne.

"I don't understand what was going through the king's head at the time… but he named the child before passing the baby down to the lowly guards. He agreed the baby would be raised, but never said the baby would be raised as his own. The king absolutely refused to raise a 'measly, worthless, peasant child' as a prince. So the child was given to sentries of the castle, a foolish decision as the guards didn't know what to do with him. All they knew about the baby was the cruel joke of a name he carried: Link, because what the king did was take away the dying man's 'one link to life.'

At this time, the royal family had a baby girl. Perhaps this is part of the reason they refused to raise Link as their own."

"This young girl was Zelda, correct?"

"Correct. She was slightly older than Link. So, while Link was brought up among the grunts, Zelda was raised and pampered like the princess she was. But that didn't stop them from getting to know each other. The two of them became close friends. In fact, Zelda was Link's **only **friend… It was kind of cute to see them playing together. Link loved to play hide-and-seek in and around the castle. Heh, he was pretty rambunctious. There were many a time when he would encourage Zelda to climb a tree with him and then the entire castle would be in a panic to get them down. Zelda was outgoing while Link was pretty shy sometimes, but he always lit up around her. It's odd. He was constantly surrounded by his 'caretakers,' but Link would always seem a little lonely without Zelda. Almost sad even.

"Anyway, Link always dreamed of leaving the castle. He couldn't wait to grow up and become of age to go on his own. Sadly, the royal family was waiting for that too. I just don't understand why they wanted to get rid of him so badly. They didn't want anything to do with Link… until the day Zelda had her dream. The princess was born with magic befitting a sage and the gift of prophecy. One night, she had a nightmare about the three wielders of the three parts of the Triforce. She told her father all about it. Now, while prophecies foretell the future in a vague way, one wielder's image was clear.

'_A brave, young orphan in green, born with the spirit of the hero, wanted by none, needed by all.'_

There was no doubt in the king's mind. It spoke of Link. Link was to be the wielder of the Triforce of Courage. He was to grow up to be a courageous and great hero. From that day onward, Link was forbidden to leave the castle grounds, regardless of age. The royal family wanted to keep him in reserve, as a valuable tool, a powerful weapon. But even then, he was still frowned upon by the royal family and the nobles! The bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom was assumed to be Zelda but no one was sure. Nobody knew who held the Triforce of Power at the time. And so, Link was trapped within the castle walls. This ruined his dreams. Link went through a depression after the king's decree that he never be allowed to leave. Almost nothing could cheer him up.

"The happiest time of his life was probably the day of his 10th birthday, a year or so after he'd been forbidden to leave. Zelda had a special present for him. If her parents knew, they might've grounded her forever too. On the morning of his 10th birthday, Zelda took Link to a secret corner of the garden and presented the gift. The gift was the royal family's treasure: the Ocarina of Time. It was said that a brave hero from long ago had used it to traverse through time and save Hyrule and the world, but by then the magic was gone, its purpose fulfilled. Though it was nothing more than a decorated instrument, it was still a royal treasure. When Zelda gave Link the ocarina, it was as if she were welcoming him into her family when no one else would. That one moment was what pulled Link out of his depression. He smiled that cute, mischievous grin of his. They played his favorite game, hide-and-seek, in the garden. They even made a small, but beautiful duet with Zelda singing and Link with his new ocarina. Zelda made him laugh. Zelda made him smile… that one final time…"

"Final? What happened?"

"Lucario, remember what I said about the Triforce of Power?"

"Yes, Sheik. You said they didn't know who held it at the time."

"Well… this was the day they found out… on the night of Link's 10th birthday. Late that night, after the children went to sleep… Zelda was kidnapped. Ganondorf, the Gerudo King of Thieves, stole his way into the castle and snatched the princess up. He was so sneaky and quiet, no one knew he had been there or that he was taking Zelda away. Except for Link. He was the only one to notice. While all the guards were oblivious, Link, 10-year-old Link, cut Ganondorf off and stood between the evil man and his escape. No matter what tactic Ganondorf used against him, whether it was intimidating, pushing, punching, or kicking, Link still refused to let Ganondorf escape with Zelda. At this point, Ganondorf was so fed up with the boy blocking him that he literally threw Zelda away and began strangling Link to death. Zelda took this opportunity to shout and raise a racket, alerting the guards and forcing Ganondorf to drop Link and escape without her. Before he left, it was revealed that Ganondorf was after the princess because he knew she held a piece of the Triforce. He was after the Triforce of Wisdom and Courage… because he already had the Triforce of Power. He was not gifted with a prophecy, though; he'd only heard of the Triforce parts when he received his piece. He knew Zelda had another piece. What he didn't realize was that Link held the last. If not for him not realizing, he probably would've kidnapped not only Zelda, but Link as well, and he would've claimed the Triforce."

"Wait, please. I don't understand one point. I always believed the Triforce to be a _**holy **_power. How can an evil man wield even a piece of it?"

"You too, huh, Lucario? Everyone believes the Triforce to be a holy power when, really, it is not. True: the Triforce is made of the three sacred triangles left by the goddesses to mark where they returned to the heavens and to mark the entrance to the Sacred Realm but, by no means, are they a 'holy' power. The Triforce contains **great **power, not holy power. If it were 'holy,' it would be able to discriminate right from wrong, justice from evil. But it can't. The legend says something like: 'if the one who lays their hand upon the Triforce has a balanced heart, then they shall claim the Triforce and it will grant their wish. But, if that one has an imbalanced heart, then the Triforce shall separate into three pieces and be granted to those who represent them the most.' The Triforce, though, has been separate for as long as time can remember. It hasn't been brought back together in eons. There have always been three wielders. Zelda had Wisdom because she was brilliant, smart, and wise. Link had Courage because he was brave and courageous. Ganondorf had Power because, despite being greedy and terrible, he was… well, powerful."

"Alright… um, please… go on."

"Right… well, Ganondorf escaped, leaving Zelda relatively unharmed… but Link was in horrible condition. He was bruised and beaten, even bleeding. He had been choked to near death and was unconscious. In fact, he was so gravely injured… he- he went into a coma…"

"On his 10th birthday? The same day you just said he broke out of his depression?"

"The very same… It was a couple of months before he woke up. But after that traumatizing experience… Link was never the same. He blamed himself for what nearly happened to Zelda… It didn't help that the royal family blamed him too. As soon as he woke up, Link was determined to join the soldiers and eventually become Zelda's personal bodyguard. He was dead set on making sure he could be with her at all times, making sure she was perfectly safe.

At the age of 10, right after he woke from his coma, Link trained his sword arm to perfection and joined the ranks of the soldiers. It was heartrending for Zelda to watch. After he woke from that coma, Link never laughed. He never smiled. He never found joy in anything. All he did was train and fight to prove he was worthy to protect the princess. The one good thing that came of this was that he finally earned some of the respect he should've gotten long ago. At age 12, Link was one of the best swordsmen in Hyrule and was awarded with his own, personal tools, sword and decorated shield. He was the most dedicated soldier there. A couple years later, when Ganondorf infiltrated again with an army of Gerudos, it was Link who was fighting the hardest on the front lines. Link never backed down, even at that early age, not if it was for Zelda. The Hyrulian Army successfully pushed Ganondorf and his Gerudos out of the castle. The Hylian soldier that led the retaliation was awarded with a major promotion to General of the Hyrulian Army. That soldier was 14. Care to guess at whom it was, Lucario?"

"… Link…"

"Ding. You're correct. Congratulations. You win 1,000 rupees."

"Really?"

"No. But you are right. At the age of 14, Link rose to the top of the ranks, just one below the personal guard. Link was a brave warrior, especially in all the raids the Gerudos launched against the castle. No matter how silently they snuck in, Link always figured out where those damn bandits were hiding and fought them, tooth and nail, to kick them out. Link has led battles too, though he had to do it within the castle walls. Remember? The king wouldn't let him go because, even then, Link was proving to be a powerful, valuable weapon. Finally, when Link turned 16, the king awarded him with the honor of being Princess Zelda's personal bodyguard. After being looked down upon by the royal family all his life… after all the battles he fought, after all the crap everyone gave him, after all the BULL FATE HANDED DOWN TO HIM-!... he FINALLY got what he wanted!"

"Sheik? Please calm down."

"Pardon me… Sorry that slipped out… Back to the story.

After Link made it to being Zelda's bodyguard, I guess he… lightened up? I don't know how to describe it exactly. He wasn't as serious, but he still never smiled. He rarely talked or made a sound at all. People who respected him started calling him the 'silent hero.' Others who… _questioned_ his character due to his never leaving the palace called him the 'mute coward.' Link just ignored all the rumors, gossip, and names. He was always by Zelda's side. He was there to keep her safe. He made sure she was never in any sort of danger. And the king was pleased with that. In the king's mind, Link would be the protector of the royal family until the day he died, never to leave the castle. But Link and Zelda had other plans.

You see, the bearers of the Triforce are never revealed unless something is about to happen, unless the world needs people to play a certain role to preserve its future. The different wielders of the Triforce are there for a reason. The piece they receive sets them on their chosen path. Zelda had been forewarned of imminent danger in her prophecies though she learned not to inform her father of any more. She forced Link to make a promise: that when the time came, he would follow the path Destiny chose for him, even if it meant leaving her side. And that time did come before his 18th birthday. I believe you know what 'time' it was, Lucario."

"The battle against the Subspace Army."

"Correct again. Believe it or not, that was Link's first time outside the castle walls… He hasn't seen Hyrule Castle since he escaped it 6 months ago… and he never will."

"…Why?..."

"Because, believe me when I tell you this, Lucario: that may have been his 'house,' but it was never his 'home.' To Link, beside Zelda is a haven, but that castle is a prison. He has sworn to me, to Zelda, to himself to **never **go back. He will **never** return. **Never.**"

"Oh…"

"Many good things have come to him after leaving, though. Before, he was so withdrawn, but now he's found new friends. He found Pit, who taught him how to smile and laugh again. He found you, Lucario."

"Sheik, I don't understand why _I'm _important."

"Because you and he are very similar. Much more than you would think. Now that Zelda's gone, he **needs** you guys, you and Pit, to be there for him. But back to the main point: do you understand, now, why Link is so horribly, emotionally scarred by what happened to Zelda?"

"No- wait…" Lucario paused and thought hard. _'Holy Arceus… that means… everything Link did in the past… up to a certain point… It was all for her. Zelda… she-"_

"Zelda meant the world to him," Sheik finished the pokémon's thought. "He feels as though he failed her. He's lost without her. She was the sole reason he trained so hard. She's the reason he's here… Sometimes, I even think she's the reason he's **alive.**"

"If what you say is true," Lucario began to realize, "then Zelda didn't just mean the world to Link. Zelda **was **his world."

Sheik's red eyes squinted, as if she were smiling contently. "_**Now, **_you understand." Then Sheik went to the doorway and started to usher some people into the new, made up clinic. "Thank you for listening, Lucario, and for helping me out. I can take it from here."

"Oh." Lucario's ears perked up as he snapped out of his thoughts. "No, Sheik, thank you." The pokémon bowed gracefully and trotted out into the main room. _'So… Link has a past that he'd rather not remember… Sheik is right in that regard: I have things I want to forget. But I never realized that… he was almost all alone… like I used to be…' _

Lucario looked up to the side of the main hall and noticed Link ambling into another side room with Pit at his heels. A feeling of concerned curiosity twisted in the aura guardian's gut and he quietly followed. Lucario poked his head into the room, the new place where the stone statues lay. Pit was still hunched over shamefully behind Link who stared at the statues with dull, lifeless eyes. _'Then there's that…' _Lucario thought miserably._ 'The others may be stone, but they're still__** here. **__Zelda is gone, disappeared without a trace, like she never even existed.'_

Link then looked down at his empty hands, turning them over and back again while opening and closing them. The young, green warrior shook and clenched fists around the tears that fell into his palms. Pit gently put a hand on Link's shoulder and gave a soft, encouraging smile. Lucario stepped into the room, full of sympathy. Link turned to Lucario with watery, blue eyes and a tear-streaked face. Then the quiet, crying boy looked at the angel, tears flowing ever more profusely. Pit gently smiled again and raised his arms slightly out, in an 'offering' gesture. Link squeezed his crying eyes shut, threw his arms around the angel, and sobbed over his shoulder. Pit made a surprised gasp at the abrupt hug, then his gaze at his broken friend softened and he rubbed the crying warrior's back reassuringly. Lucario silently stepped up and put a paw on the crying warrior's back as well.

"Shhh…" Pit gently whispered to Link. "It's alright. It's okay to cry." Link continued to sob on the angel's shoulder, hardly quiet anymore.

"We're here for you," Lucario assured. "We're right here."

The broken Hylian warrior cried and all the while, the pokémon and the angel supported him. He cried for a long time, repeating "I'm sorry" over and over. Marth briefly appeared in the doorway but Lucario gave a warning glare and scared him away. Link sobbed in the arms of his friend until no more tears could come. Even then, Pit and Lucario stayed by his side. The worst was over. Link calmed and stopped his chant. Then, he spoke just loud enough for Pit and Lucario to hear, a soft whisper of a still broken, but healing man.

"Thank you."

_**(Remember to leave me a review; I love to hear what you have to say. Thank you for taking the time to read my story. Your support is all the motivation I need. ^,^)**_


	17. Chapter 11: Suspicions

_**(Hey guys! This is Xybur7! I'm so sorry for the long wait but , finally, here's the next chapter! I notice a few reviews making some clatter for this and I'm really honored that you guys like this so much.  
I've been away on some long summer camps, one being a whole month out of my state. So sorry! Anyway, here you go!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own anything but the plot. Any and all characters/places/objects belong to their respective owners.)**_

Chapter 11: Suspicions

"Thanks guys," Link said as he relaxed on a bench in the main hall. Pit grinned and Lucario looked away, embarrassed.

"No prob!" Pit exclaimed. "That's what friends are for, right, Lucario?"

The blue, jackal-like pokémon continued to avoid eye contact and guiltily stared down at the floor.

Pit cleared his throat and tried again. "I said 'right, Lucario?'"

Lucario perked up. "What- Oh, um, yes…"

"Hey, Lucario, what's the matter?" Link asked, concerned.

"I…" The pokémon started. "Link, I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"I… know about your past," Lucario confessed. "Sheik told me what has happened to you since you were young. I feel it was wrong of me to learn about you without your consent and behind your back. I apologize."

Link blinked with mild surprise then shook it off. "Nah, it's better this way," he said and chuckled a bit at Pit's childish, envious pouting. "I wouldn't have told anyone anyways."

"Metal primid platoon spotted!"

The three fighters popped up at the shout. Link rushed to the closest stairway and ran up the flights with Pit and Lucario close behind. The Hylian punched open the tower trapdoor and jumped out.

"Wha-!" Link exclaimed as he struggled to regain his balance on one foot. A hundred colorful pikmin were shrieking with fear and panic and running all over the floor. Pit and Link tiptoed around the screaming pikmin, careful to not step on one and made their way to Olimar who was standing on the stone rail, scouting. Lucario frowned at the frantic swarm of pikmin, then leaped over them all together, flipped, and crouched on the rail beside the Hocotatian captain.

"Where are the primids?" Link asked the small captain.

"They're at the-" Olimar's report was cut off by many louder, panicked pikmin squeaks of fear. "Enough!" he shouted then whistled, his glowing red antenna straightening and sending rainbow lights around the entire tower roof. Every pikmin ceased shrieking, swiftly formed an orderly formation before Olimar, and watched him attentively.

"Calm down and hush!" Olimar ordered. All one hundred pikmin clicked their tiny feet together and saluted.

"Handy whistle…" Lucario mumbled and looked at the saluting creatures, impressed.

"They look like carrots…" Pit licked his lips and stared hungrily at the tiny pikmin battalion.

"Obedient carrots," the pokémon quietly agreed.

"Right," Olimar huffed out and turned back to Link. "The primids are at the end of the canyon. Take a look." Link leaned forward on the stone railing and squinted. Far off in the distance, on the other side of the ravine, a little blob of silver shimmered in the sun. Marth, Mario, and Fox arrived and came up beside him.

"Who set off the alarm?" Marth demanded, mildly annoyed.

"I did," Olimar called up to him. "We have primids advancing for us."

"Actually, it doesn't look like it." Link squinted harder. "It… looks like they're… converging on one point."

"Why?"

"Don't know. What do you think?"

"Maybe they-a are attacking some-a-body?"

"Who would they be attacking? Can't be more than one person. We'd see them."

While the group quickly discussed, Link heard the fluttering of feathers behind him. He spun around and looked up in fright. Pit was curiously focused on the primids in the distance as he flapped his wings to climb higher in the sky.

"Pit!" Link jumped, snatched the angel's hand, and yanked him down.

"Whoa! Whoa! Chill out!" Pit exclaimed as he stumbled on the ground. Link pulled the angel closer so he could whisper in his ear.

"What do you think you're doing?!" He hissed.

"Trying to get a better look," Pit whispered back innocently.

"Flying! The Wings of Icarus are dangerous!"

Pit blinked his naïve, sky-blue eyes. "I'm not using them." He stated simply. "That's like a power-up to the Power of Flight that my patron grants me. I don't _need _it. I can fly by myself… kinda… sorta… not really. Point is: it doesn't take that much energy **just **to fly."

Link frowned and narrowed his eyes.

"Which means I won't set it off."

Link continued to stare disapprovingly.

"Which means I'll be okay."

Link sighed and held one finger in front of Pit's face. "One spark, Pit. One spark and you're coming down."

"I'll be fine."

"One spark!"

"Okay!"

Link reluctantly let go of Pit hand and watched him carefully as he flapped higher and higher. Pit shaded his eyes with his hand and studied the blob of primids in the distance.

"I spy with my little eye," he called down, "something… blue… and very fast… moving around in the center of the group."

"Blue… and fast?" Link repeated and turned to Marth, Mario, and Fox.

Fox shrugged. "I don't know. Sounds like Sonic to me."

"He would be another good ally," Marth noted.

"I'll get his attention." Fox pulled out his blue, hexagonal reflector and blaster.

"Alright, Pit. Come down now," Link called up. The angel ceased flapping and dropped to the ground. Fox turned on the reflector, tossed it up, and bounced in the air with the red shots from his blaster. Everyone else kept their attention on the distant group of primids. After a second, a little blue ball jumped above the primid group, as if answering the signal, and turned into a speedy blue line as it raced toward the tower. The line raced through the canyon and up the wall in a flash, then screeched to a halt in the on top of the tower. The blue, spikey hedgehog bent over, hands on knees to catch his breath as his red sneakers smoked.

"Hey… guys… what's… up?" he huffed out.

"Wow, Sonic, you're-a out-a breath. Are you-a out-a shape?" Mario teased.

"Shut… up… fat plumber…" Sonic retorted. "I've… been bouncing off… those guys' heads… all day… Freakin… chase me half-way… 'round the world… Damn primids… don't give up."

"Good thing you're here now," Marth said happily. "We need all the allies we can get."

Sonic gave the Altean prince a weird look. "What? You at war or somethin'?"

"Yes." Everyone answered.

"Let me get one thing straight: if I'm stayin', I am not rationing."

Marth crossed his arms and smiled. "Don't worry. We're having none of that. If we were, I wouldn't have let Kirby in."

"Marth!" Link exclaimed in shock.

Marth raised his hands. "Just saying."

"Okay, seriously, what the hell is going on?" Sonic shook his head, evidently confused.

"The old Subspace army is back from the dead and evil, purple lightning (it's evil 'cause it's purple) can, um…" Pit looked nervously at Link.

"Turn people to stone," Marth finished. "It's triggered when someone uses 'magic.' I would suppose that included your Chaos Emeralds. Seen any of it?"

"Nope. Haven't use 'em. Though, heh, good thing you told me 'cause, uh, I was about to. I was getting fed up with them over there… Uh, are they coming closer?"

Everyone on the tower watched the silver blob closely as it gradually grew bigger, bit by tiny bit. Slowly, the blob began to squeeze into the canyon mouth. Link's eyes grew distant, not focusing on the advancing army. Quietly he backed up and slipped through the trapdoor. The Hylian bit the tip of his thumb as he paced in the main hall. _'If the lightning turns people to stone… then why did Zelda __**disappear**__? That doesn't make sense. Is… is Tabuu behind this? No! I felt him die. It's not him. Then who?…' _Pit tripped and fell out of the staircase and Lucario calmly stepped over him as Link nervously readjusted his long, green cap.

"Were you tired of them up there?" Pit asked as he got up and dusted himself off.

"No, I needed a place to think," Link answered.

"About what?" Lucario tilted his head.

"Well, we all know, or though we knew that the lightning can turn us to stone but… I don't think that's all of it," the green warrior started.

The aura guardian grunted and nodded. "I mentioned that to Sheik. She thinks the same. If that was all it did, then why would Princess Zelda vanish?"

"She wouldn't."

"Hey, didn't she say something was 'tugging' at her before she went poof?" Pit piped up.

"'Tugging'? That would imply something was trying to take her away." Lucario started to ponder as well.

"Or someone…" Link closed his eyes and thought harder. "Lucario, what is 'aura'?"

"The essence of life. The power of spirit. One's very soul... Why do you ask?"

"Oh!" Pit realized and pointed at Link. "You think the lightning is somehow absorbing people's auras because that's how it tracks us! Clever…"

"It would explain why you couldn't see the statues, Lucario," Link agreed. "Because they're devoid of aura."

"So Zelda's soul was taken by something." Lucario glanced up at the ceiling.

"Or someone…" Link added. _'I know someone's controlling it. I can feel it in my gut.'_

"I still don't get it." Pit stretched and yawned, bored and confused. "Why take people's aura? Whatever it was had an easy time turning people to stone. Zelda seemed to fight it, even a little. If something was at the other end pulling her, it musta really wanted her."

"Who would desperately want Zelda's soul?" Lucario asked.

"Not her soul… What's connected to it." Link sucked in a breath and tried to contain his building rage. Both Pit and Lucario gulped and took a step back, feeling its intensity.

Link turned to them. "Can I rely on you two?"

They both nodded.

"Good," the Hylian hissed through clenched teeth. "We're going out."

"Wait, uh, Link. Wha-what about the primids?" Pit stuttered.

"Marth can handle it. Unlike me, he's been on the front lines with troops," Link spat out bitterly. He paused at the front door. "Lucario, you're a good tracker, right?"

"…Yes…" Lucario answered tentatively. "…Why?..."

"There's someone I want you to find."

_**(So? What do you think? Leave me a review! If I made any mistakes, go ahead and tell me! I very much enjoy hearing what you guys think! Thanks for taking the time to read my story! Your support is all the motication I need!)**_


	18. Chapter 12: Square One

_**(Since I've been gone for so long, I think I should upload a second chapter, don't you think?**_

_**Hey guys! This is Xybur7! I thought I'd be nice and try to make up for my absence with two chapters in one day. Having a tiny bit of trouble writing one chapter right now, but I promise to not take too long this time. Now, enjoy!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own anything but the plot. Any and all characters/places/objects belong to their respective owners.)**_

Chapter 12: Square One

Lucario slowly and silently crept through the dark woods. His light footsteps made no sound. The pokémon closed his eyes and focused his aura sight ahead. A tall, muscular, dark aura stood with arms crossed in front of a massive other aura. He reopened his eyes and nodded. They were almost there. Now they had to be sneaky. There was a flash of violet in the sky and thunder rolled past the pokémon. Lucario turned his head to check on Link and Pit. The Hylian watched the pokémon attentively with hard determination while the angel followed close behind Link with one hand on his shoulder. Lucario waved them down and the group crouched low to the ground. He silently waved his paw forward and crawled on his four paws carefully. A conversation between the two auras grew louder and more distinguishable the closer they came. The trio ducked behind a nearby brush together, the closest they could come to the dark, muscular man without alerting him.

Lucario breathed out through his snout quickly to make a quiet snuffing sound and leaned back and forth toward Pit. Pit looked up while shaking nervously. The jackal pokémon brought both paws up and waved them slightly up and down like wings, then used one paw to make a little slicing motion around his neck. Pit nodded and sunk, folding his wings down. Lucario tapped Link, who was right beside him, on the shoulder. Then the pokémon put a paw over his mouth as in 'be quiet.' Link mimicked the gesture, nodded, and turned his attention to the people talking in front of the bush. Lucario flattened his ears as far down as he could and peeked through the leaves.

In the center of the small clearing was a violet bonfire that crackled and popped weakly. Behind the bonfire was a massive yellow creature with a spiked green shell, large muzzle, and a short red Mohawk in between two horns on its head. It stood upright and wore a large spiked collar and two spiked bracers on each arm, one on the forearm and one at the wrist. Its bushy red eyebrows were angrily furrowed on its green face.

"You really think I'd join back up with you again?" the monster snarled impatiently. "Yeah, I don't think so. Not after you stabbed me in the back. I outta roast you, Ganon."

Lucario felt a surge of anger rise beside. He glanced down at Link, who was struggling to contain his rage. Link stared directly at the tall man right in front of the bush with hate. Lucario looked back and forth between the two. _'His aura is rising with his anger…' _Lucario noted. _'But… he doesn't have any magic. We should be okay. But…' _

"_**Calm down,"**_ the pokémon telepathically ordered. Link blinked and nodded, still remaining quiet. Pit worriedly pointed at the man in front of the bush who was uncrossing his arms. The man wore gold-lined black armor and a deep, royal purple cape. His dark grey skin contrasted his power-hungry yellow eyes and his bright orange hair that was pulled back by a circular headdress. A yellow gem gleamed on his forehead as he gave a menacing, knowing smile.

"It's 'Ganondorf' to you, Bowser," the dark man corrected. "But don't worry. It's just me this time. There's no one to betray you for since the hand is dead."

"Nuh-uh. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I'm not falling for it!" Bowser snapped.

"I can help you. I've already shown the new power I can control." Ganondorf gestured to the crackling purple bonfire. The logs that were piled together lay inside a crater of stone. "I can get what I want and you can get what you want. What was it? Those fat little plumbers blown to smithereens? Simple. That pretty pink princess? Consider her yours." The dark, powerful man chuckled as if he made a joke.

"Well…" Bowser scratched his head with one claw. "I **do **want the princess. But blowing those guys to **smithereens** might be a bit extreme." The koopa king glared at Ganondorf again and pointed. "But what are you gonna get done with it, huh?"

"Oh, many things…" Ganondorf chuckled.

Lucario felt another surge of fury beside him. The pokémon glanced worriedly at Link. The Hylian clenched his jaw and balled his hands into fists, grabbing dirt off the ground as he did. Lucario focused on his friend's aura. The lively green flame leaped in height. Lucario opened his eyes in surprise.

"_**Calm down!"**_ he telepathically ordered again. Link silently took a deep breath and let it out quietly while eyeing the dark Gerudo in front of him.

'_**He's asking for it,' **_Link mouthed to the pokémon.

"_**Doesn't matter. Stay hidden. We want information and confirmation. Not confrontation."**_

Pit nudged Link, which bumped him into Lucario, and pointed at Ganondorf again.

The menacing man laughed in the middle of a speech and continued. "Yes… and with this newfound power, the Triforce shall be mine. **Will **be mine! The only thing that stands in my way is that impudent Hylian brat."

Link twitched and covered the back of his left hand.

"He will definitely fall by my hand. This lightning will strike him down at my feet. Heh heh, oh yes, I'll make sure it's painful. I'll make sure his death is slow and agonizing. After insulting me and foiling every plan I make… Every time I believe it will work, no, he's there to mess them up. And helping him back then? Bah, I'd rather die than be forced to ally myself with him for a second time. He will feel the sting of my blade and the shock of the sky and I will be the last thing he sees before I take his life." Ganondorf flexed his fingers then tensed his hand as if he were choking someone. Lucario and Pit gulped. Bowser took a step back. Link only continued to glare at the man, his aura seething with contempt and growing ever larger.

"I will kill him," Ganondorf raged. "And I will rip the Triforce of Courage from his soul…" The man stopped then cleared his throat, composing himself. "But I can take my time. With this power, I'll have reign over everyone, dominance over even the mightiest magicians. After all…" Ganondorf chuckled spread his arms out, hands raised toward the stormy sky. "The Triforce of Wisdom is already in the palm of my hand."

Lucario felt something in the air snap.

"You **BASTARD**!" Something green flashed past the pokémon. Ganondorf jolted, completely caught off guard as Link leaped and tackled him to the ground. The two men pulled no punches as they rolled through the purple fire. Bowser jumped in frightened shock, lost his balance and waved his arms to regain it.

"Link! No!" Lucario shouted as he stood up abruptly from their hiding spot.

"What THE-?!" Bowser exclaimed as he jumped out of the fighting men's way. Then he moved his arm bracers up as if rolling up his sleeves. Pit shot out in front of him, arms wide open, and shook his head quickly.

"Don't get involved!" he warned.

"Hu-?! Wha-?!" Bowser stammered before snapping at the angel. "Get lost, chicken wings! I don't take orders from anyone, let alone some kid!"

"Listen to him, Bowser." Lucario swiftly slid in beside Pit but glanced at the brawling men behind him now. "It's best if we stay out of this."

Link and Ganondorf fought viciously to stay above the other as they rolled back and forth yelling, never giving the other a chance to cast a spell or draw a weapon. Rage filled both of them as they kicked and punched each other with no power held back. Pit watched through his fingers. Both Bowser and Lucario were taken aback by their ferocity. The two screamed and cursed at each other as they unleashed their fury. Suddenly, the men rolled up and managed to get on their knees while still grappling with one another.

"Now it's mine!" Ganondorf announced as he pulled back an open palm, ready to fill it with dark energy.

"I'll kill you, you damn pig!" Link shouted as he drew his sword and quickly stabbed down into the Gerudo man's leg. Ganondorf grunted and closed his hand, his focus broken, and the men grappled again. Ganondorf pulled his hand back again. Link drew back his sword, aiming at his enemy's heart.

"STOP!"

Link pushed against Lucario who now strained to halt the Hylian from plunging the blade into its target. Pit held Ganondorf back, keeping a firm grip on the ready, open hand. All four warriors stood their ground, unable to move an inch against each other.

Ganondorf scoffed at Link. "I should have killed you that night. Should've broken your tiny throat."

"You should be dead already," Link spat and struggled in Lucario's grip, trying to push his sword forward. "I- can- fix- that."

"Link!" Lucario tightened his grip. "We can't kill him-" The pokémon gave the dark, sneering man an orange-hot death glare. "-yet. We have to talk first." Lucario looked calmly at Ganondorf, who seethed with anger though wearing a smug smile. "You're controlling the lightning?"

"Heh, heh, Of course," the Gerudo man laughed.

"Do you not realize what it does?!"

"Stikes down my foes. Reduces my opponents to ash."

Pit spoke up. "No, you're wrong Ganon."

"Ganon-'**dorf,**'" the dark man corrected.

"The lightning turns people to _stone_!" the angel exclaimed as he tightened his grip.

"Well now, that's most interesting. A pleasant surprise. I would love to decorate my castle garden," Ganondorf turned his head at Link and spat, "with my petrified enemies."

Lucario could hear Link gritting his teeth. The pokémon adjusted his paws to continue holding Link back and made a tiny hiss of pain and surprise. _'Link is incredibly hot to the touch! Is he sick?' _The pokémon closed his eyes and focused as Pit continued to interrogate Ganondorf. Link's humongous green aura had adopted a golden hue and twisted ferociously, like the flames in a wild fire. Lucario opened his eyes in shock at how much the aura had grown. _'This is unnatural! When did it grow so high? At this rate, it's going to trigger the lightning!'_

"-First, I can get rid of you, you little brat!" Ganondorf shouted, snapping Lucario back into reality.

"Try it…" Link growled.

"Link," the pokémon whispered in the Hylian's ear. "Heed me. For your own sake, calm down."

"-Then I'll strike down Princess Zelda with ease." Ganondorf teased.

"SHE'S ALREADY GONE, YOU BASTARD!" Link screeched. Lucario felt Link's body grow hotter and his aura rise higher. Ganondorf stopped smiling. Bowser nervously chewed on his claws.

"What… do you mean… she's already… gone?" the dark Gerudo man spoke carefully while wearing an intensely serious expression.

"You don't know?" Pit asked.

"Zelda was struck by the lightning as a spirit and, as a result, disappeared," Lucario explained as he kept a close eye on Link.

Ganondorf stuttered in shock. "D-disappeared? Then… then with her… her part… the… Triforce of Wisdom-"

"I care about **her**! Screw the Triforce!" Link spat. Ganondorf stared stupefied, taken aback by the outburst. Pit gasped. Lucario blinked a couple of times as his eyes slowly traveled to the back of Link's left hand. The two bottom triangles of the Triforce glowed brighter and brighter.

"-And don't act coy!" Link struggled some more against the pokémon's grip. "You know what you did! You said it yourself, it's 'already in the palm of your hand.'"

"I meant it would be easy!" Ganondorf shot back. "The lightning targets magic! That's how I figured out how to manipulate it! There! I told you! Content?"

"Liar!"

"Link, he's telling the truth!" Lucario hissed.

"Everyone else is stone but Zelda is flat out gone! Even Peach is nothing but a statue now!"

"PEACH?!" Bowser cried out then looked down at ground dejectedly.

"Look," the aura pokémon started. "If you're not the one who's doing it, then do you know who is?"

"If I knew… do you think I would tell you?" the Gerudo man answered.

"Then… then…" Pit stammered. "Then can you _help _us? You know, work together?"

"Work? With **you people**?! Don't make laugh!" Ganondorf relaxed but continued to glare at Link, who was still straining against Lucario's hold. Pit looked down, childishly disappointed. The dark Gerudo man snickered. "Why would I work with you… if I could just… do this!"

Suddenly, Ganondorf jerked his arm out of Pit's grip and elbowed him back. Pit quickly sailed backwards and slid against the ground to Bowser's feet. Then, without warning, the evil man stood, grabbed both Link and Lucario by the necks, and lifted them off the ground. Link dropped his sword and clawed at the armored hand around his neck. Lucario kicked out and gasped for breath as Ganondorf's fingers closed tighter. The pokémon's orange eyes glinted viciously in the bonfire's light as he began to channel his aura. _'The lightning!'_ Lucario quickly blinked and stopped himself but still struggled in Ganondorf's iron grip.

"I could care less about your pathetic problems," the dark man spat with disgust as he closed his hand around the two fighters' throats. "Hyrule has already fallen without its 'hero' there to protect it. I don't understand how that witch could disappear before your eyes but I **will **get what I want. The Triforce. I will **not **let it slip through my hands again. And **you-**" Ganondorf squeezed his hand tighter around Link's neck causing him to cry out a strangled gag. "-will give me your part of it."

Link clawed at the Gerudo's hand and struggled to breathe. Lucario closed his eyes and took as much of a breath as he could as Ganondorf's sneering continued on.

"You failed."

Lucario's eyes shot open, as bright as flame.

"Keh, you're nothing but a coward. You're weak and because of that, you're a failure of a guardian. You failed to save your own kingdom."

The pokémon let go of the dark man's arm and pulled down his ears to block out the noise. Memories of Cameran Palace fought to the surface.

"All you did was hide. Hide from all that fighting outside the castle walls. You hid from the war."

'_No I didn't!' _Lucario screamed in his head as he dragged his ears down further. _'Be quiet! I did not hide! I did not hide! I went to fight! I was only…'_

"And even after your 'efforts,' behind your back, they hated you in that castle. They were all ready to betray you."

_**The scene of a blue cloaked aura figure in a feathered hat high on a ledge appeared in the pokémon's mind. The man threw down a gem-headed staff in front of the pokémon's feet. The gem shined brightly and swiftly sucked the pokémon in, trapping him inside. The outside world faded to black, but not before the pokémon watched his old friend run off, leaving him behind.**_

'_He did __**not**__ betray me!'_ Lucario started kicking out again in an effort to make Ganondorf stop.

"So… you're all alone. You have no friends."

'_I do too!'_

"You're a coward."

'_I am not! Shut up!'_

"And you can't even protect your own prin-"

"SHUT UP!" Both Lucario and Link snapped at the same time. Lucario glanced at the angered Hylian in shock and realization that the insults were meant for Link. Intense heat washed over the pokémon. Within Lucario's aura sight, Link's aura engulfed the entire clearing. The golden fire flashed so brightly, Lucario's eyes shot open once again in a panic. Link's Triforce mark glowed so bright, with such intensity, smoke started to arise from the back of his hand.

_**1…**_

"Let us go!" Lucario screeched as he swung his feet back and forth, trying to get free. Ganondorf ignored the pokémon's plea and stared at Link's left hand.

_**2…**_

The Triforce marked glowed even brighter and sizzled on Link's glove as he grunted ferociously and clawed at Ganondorf's hand. Ganondorf's eyes widened.

_**3…**_

"You're gonna be turned to stone!" Pit warned, just now coming to with Bowser's help. Ganondorf ignored the world around him and stared hungrily at Link's glowing Triforce. A sick, insane grin crept its way upon the greedy Gerudo's face. Ganondorf began to chuckle. "Heh, heh, heh, oh… I see-!"

_**4…**_

Lucario curled up and landed a solid aura filled kick to the powerful man's chest. The pokémon lashed out, clutched Link's left hand, and pushed out of the dark man's grasp. Link and Lucario fell back. Lucario's paws felt as if they were both on fire and he quickly let go of Link's left hand as they both began to scramble back. Ganondorf shouted a curse and leaned for them, his injured leg anchoring him back.

_**5…**_

Lucario and Link shielded their eyes as the sky flashed violet. Ganondorf's scream mixed with the echoing thunder and morphed into a monstrous, inhuman roar. Lucario and Link reopened their eyes and scooted back. Ganondorf reached out, now on his knees, and clawed the ground in an attempt to drag himself away. The stone covering crept up his leg and swiftly spread across his chest. The dark Gerudo faced the ground and gasped for breath, then glared hatefully at Link. The man lifted one hand and pointed an accusatory finger at the young Hylian. The light of the Triforce of Power's mark flickered like a tiny candle flame on the verge of being extinguished. The stone settled upon Ganondorf's face as he mouthed his final words.

'_**You have it…'**_

The dull grey swallowed him and a faint purple beam shot up toward the sky. Lucario followed it with his aura sight while Link huffed and puffed, trying to catch his breath after the alarming event. The pokémon watched carefully as a shiny, golden spark bounced from within the stormy clouds and float gently back down to the Earth. The spark swayed in an imaginary wind and glided in front of Lucario's snout, the aura glimmering gold. The pokémon's ribbon-like lumps on the back of his head dropped, as the light was too bright for his mind to bear. Carefully, Lucario peeked at what was passing by him. A tiny spark, barely visible, drifted toward Link and disappeared on the back of his left hand. The pokémon tilted his head, trying desperately to sort things out, then reluctantly turned back to the new stone statue before them. Pit sighed and Link sat up while looking away. With their suspect now a victim, the mystery of who their lightning master was continued to be shrouded by the dark clouds of an impending storm.

_**(Like it? What do you think? Go ahead and tell me with a review! I truly do love to hear what you guys have to say. Thank you for taking the time to read my story! Your support is all the motivation I need!)**_


	19. Chapter 13: Forgotten Worries

**(Hey! This is Xybur7! Sorry I'm kinda slow. I've had a mix of homework and Writer's Block [DAMN YOU WRITER'S BLOCK!] But, I finally got this chapter up so, yay! Hopefully you'll get some laughs from this one.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own anything but the plot. Any and all characters/places/objects belong to respective owners.)**

Chapter 13: Forgotten Worries

Children's laughter echoed through the great hall as Ness and Lucas played tag around Kirby's boiling cooking pot. Link sat on a bench, against a pillar, and watched from afar.

"Kiirrrbyyyyyy!" Lucas called up to the top of the pot. "We're hungry!"

A pink ball with a white chef's hat peeked over the rim. "Watcha want?"

"Oh, oh!" Ness bounced up and down excitedly. "Steak! I want steak!"

"Omelets, please?" Lucas shyly rubbed the floor with his foot.

"Come on, I don't wanna cook two things at once!" Kirby held his large, wooden spoon and pointed at the two children. "Which one will it be?"

The two children looked at each other and smiled. They nodded and looked back up shouting "Steak omelets!" The two of them giggled together as Kirby said "Coming right up," and started cooking. Link gave a quiet little laugh before resuming his depressed stare at the ground.

"I actually wish I could be a kid again…" The young Hylian whispered to himself. Then his blue eyes grew distant as he looked back upon the past.

"Heya, Link!"

Link blinked and looked up into Pit's big sky blue eyes. The angel bent low to talk to his friend face to face.

"Why so sad?" Pit asked innocently. "The bad guys still have a ways to go before they get here. You can smile once in a while. Cheer up!"

Link started thinking again and looked back toward the ground. Pit tilted his head as Link stared into space. Pit stood, turned his back, then bent backwards to look at Link again. Link gave a slightly annoyed look.

"Pit, what are you doing?" He asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Turning your frown upside-down!" Pit gave a childish grin while waving his arms to keep his balance.

Link watched the angel lean backwards more and more. "You do realize you're gonna-"

Pit tumbled onto his back at Link's feet.

"-fall… Oh, Pit…"

Pit gave another grin as he pulled himself together. "Woops. My bad. But seriously, what's the matter? Is it the Ganondorf thing? Cuz, I mean, he's safe in the trophy room now. Or would you rather him shatter? Cuz I can help you with that! I can easily borrow a baseball bat or two… Sledgehammer?... If that's too violent, I can get some markers and we can doodle on his face if you want…"

"It's not about Ganondorf," Link said with a mask of seriousness.

"Oh… okay…" Pit bit his lip and squatted. Link uncomfortably stared at his left palm. After a minute, Link broke the silence.

"Pit, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about." He said.

"Shoot. I'm all ears." Pit sat cross-legged and looked up eagerly, like a small child waiting for 'story time.'

"Well… Um…" Link looked away again, struggling to put his feelings into words. Pit realized his response was too childish and shook the eager look off his face.

"Sorry," the angel apologized. "I mean, go ahead. I'll listen."

"Okay… Thank you… Remember when Zel- I mean, when Mushroom Castle fell?"

"Yeah."

"I- I had…"

"You had another flashback," Pit finished for him. Link sighed and Pit's eyes widened in surprise. "Wow, you don't usually let me get away with calling it a 'flashback!' Was it bad? What happened in it?"

"It happened in, um, Zelda's final moments… There was this woman in a black cloak that looked like Zelda. And there was this little imp-girl-thing lying on the ground in front of her. And then there was me. I was there, like in all the others, looking through someone else's eyes but this time, I think I was some sort of canine? A wolf?

Anyway, while it played out, I felt really bad inside, I mean, the wolf felt bad inside. You know, since I was the wolf I could feel what it was feeling. I felt… sad and worried and… ashamed… I think the wolf knew the imp girl personally. And the imp girl was dying. I could just sense it. She was just… slipping… slowly. She even looked deathly ill. But the cloaked woman held the imp's little hand with hers and a mark glowed on the back of the woman's hand. I couldn't see it… But then the imp girl started to float upwards and some golden sparkles flowed from the woman into the imp girl. I think she was healing her. But by the end of it, the woman had disappeared, as if she sacrificed her life to save the imp's. That's what triggered it: me watching Zelda fade. The way it happened was really similar."

"Whoa," Pit muttered. "That's intense. But something else about it is troubling you. Not the cloaked woman part. Something else."

"Pit! How in Heaven's name do you do that?!" Link exclaimed.

Pit shrugged his shoulders. "We're friends. I've known you for a while. I can just tell."

"Alright… but, yeah, you're right. It's what the imp girl said during the healing. I could actually hear her loud and clear. She knew exactly what the woman was doing and she didn't want it to happen. So she turned to me, the wolf, and shouted at me and…

Okay, hold for a moment. Pit, you know how I keep saying I don't remember doing the things I have these visions of? They're not of my life. It's not me in there. But this one made me doubt what I've been telling myself all this time. It's got me so confused-"

"What did the imp say?" Pit interrupted in a commanding tone. Link gulped before continuing.

"She yelled, 'Link, stop her now.' '**Link, **stop her now.' She said my name. I know I've never been in that room, or known that person. But she said my name…" Link took off his cap and scratched the back of his head. "I'm so… confused." Pit tilted his head in thought, then quickly readjusted his laurel before it fell off.

"Maybe…" Pit pondered. "Those aren't memories of your life… But of your _past _life!"

"What do you mean?" Link asked.

"You know, maybe you've been reincarnated! Only great heroes and adventurers get to be reborn and from all the flashbacks you've told me, you were definitely someone special."

"No, Pit, you don't understand. Each 'flashback' is different. As in different people, different place. There's no way **anyone **could travel like that."

Pit pointed at Link and grinned. "… Past _lives._"

"That can't be right," Link muttered in disbelief. "That can't happen."

"Yes it can. Where I come from, when good guys die and if they behave well in the afterlife, they get the chance to be reborn. They can be reborn up to 3 times."

"Pit, if I have been reincarnated, then these flashbacks are from more than just 3 past lives. I'm also pretty sure I shouldn't be remembering any of them."

"Yeah, you're probably right about that… That **is **kinda weird… Hey, do you know if Lucario is bummed out about the, uh, Ganon-statue thing too?"

"Probably," Link flattened his hair and put his cap back on. "He can get pretty sensitive about 'failure.'"

Pit made a sad face then changed it into a silly, excited grin. "Let's go cheer him up!"

"Uh, Pit, bad idea. He's the kind that likes to think things over alo-"

Pit quickly grabbed Link's arm and abruptly dragged him down the hallway.

"Pit!" Link hissed and tried to latch on to something to stop the sprinting angel. The Hylian dug his heels into the floor and skidded to a halt, yanking Pit backwards. They stood a couple feet from an open room, the door opened outward toward them.

"I know, Pikachu." Lucario's voice said from the doorway. Pit looked back and forth between it and Link while Link shook his head in warning. Pit pouted and tiptoed to the door anyway. Link bit his lip but peeked around the door all the same. Lucario sat cross-legged on a lower bunk with Pikachu perched on his knee. The little yellow mouse chirped and squeaked to the aura pokémon in a reassuring tone. Neither of them seemed to notice Link or Pit spying on them from around the door.

"Yes, but, what if my 'best' is good enough?" Lucario asked Pikachu worriedly. Pikachu squeaked back in reassuring tone again.

"Alright… Whatever you say, as long as you stay safe during the fighting," the aura guardian agreed. Link caught Lucario giving a soft, sweet smile to Pikachu. His curiosity kept him in that spot to watch more of the scene unfold. Pikachu's cute smile faded for a second as she gave a concerned whine and squeak but Lucario held his soft gaze.

"Don't worry… I won't do anything too heroic," He assured. "I'll be okay." Lucario softly touched his nose to Pikachu's and gently nudged it. Link could hear something of a purr from Pikachu as she pushed back warmly. There was a moment of silence and the two pokémon tenderly held together, snout to snout. Pikachu broke the bond carefully to give Lucario's muzzle an affectionate lick before hopping down and heading out. Link and Pit silently scrambled behind the door to hide from the pokémon. Pikachu quietly padded out the doorway and down the hall, unsuspecting.

'_Oh my gods!' _Pit mouthed to Link. Link widened his eyes and shook his head quickly.

'_We should __**not**__ have seen that, Pit!' _Link mouthed back. Then the two of them heard a soft but happy sigh from inside the room. Pit covered his mouth with his hands, trying to hide the huge grin that was spreading across his face.

'_I wanna talk to him!' _The angel bounced on the balls of his feet.

'_No. No, no, no, no, nononononono, NO!' _Link made an 'X' with his hands.

'_I'm gonna do it!' _

'_NO! Let me do it.'_

'_Fine. Do it.'_

'_Fine.'_

' _Do it.'_

'_FINE!' _Link took deep breath and prepared for the worst. He turned the corner and took a step into the pokémon's room. "Lucario?"

Lucario startled at the call and slammed his head against the bottom of the top bunk bed. Link flinched at the loud bang it made. The pokémon immediately grabbed his head with his paws and rubbed the bruise. "Yes… Link?" He said through gritted teeth.

"S- sorry…" Link apologized guiltily. "Uh, I was just passing by your room, and, uh, decided to, you know, drop in, see how you were doing, that stuff, yeah." He laughed and put on a sheepish grin. Lucario raised an eyebrow and gave Link a confused look. "Well," Link clapped his hands together. "Seems you're okay, I'm okay, everyone's okay so, uh, I guess I should be leaving now, yeah, um, see ya!"

Lucario narrowed his eyes. "Wait."

Link made a high pitched squeak.

"When were you 'passing by'?"

Link bit his lip. "Um, just a couple seconds ago, no, a MILLI-second ago! Just now. I was walking with Pit and he brought it up-"

"You're with PIT?!"

"Yes! No! I mean-! We didn't hear anything!"

"YOU HEARD WHAT?!" Link could now see a blue, fiery aura building around Lucario.

"Lucario~ and Pikachu~ sittin' in a tree~!" Pit started to sing as he poked his head into the room. "K-I-S-S-I-N-"

The bunk beds exploded in a gigantic blue fireball, Lucario's orange eyes now glowing red with fury.

"GEEEEEEEAAAAH!" Pit and Link screamed. Both boys bolted out of the room and down the hallway with the enraged pokémon hot on their heels. Link and Pit screeched like cats as the tore through the hallway, ducking the hundreds of baseball-sized aura spheres being hurled at them. The pair skidded around a corner, almost tripping over the rug and passed the open storage room. Lucario leapt up and bounced off the walls and ceiling, eventually landing in front of them in a crouch. The pokémon immediately pounced on the duo, rolled with them into the storage room, and pinned them both to the ground amongst the dusty boxes and furniture. Link could see every strand of Lucario's fur standing on end as he growled above them. The pokémon's eyes were wide with panic but focused on Pit who snickered. The jackal lowered his head to glare at the chuckling angel.

"Heh, heh… Why, Granny! What big eyes you have!" Pit joked.

Lucario roared in Pit's face, not amused, and bared his fangs.

"Yikes!" Pit stopped giggling. "And what sharp teeth you have, too!"

The growling pokémon leaned lower until he and the frightened angel were practically eye-to-eye.

Pit made a tiny squeal and his voice dramatically decreased in volume. "Please don't eat me…"

"You…" Lucario snarled. "I swear by Dialga Temporal, Palkia Spacial, Great Giratina, and Almighty Arceus, if you even **breathe **one word to **ANYONE **outside this room, so help me, I **can **and **will** track you down, tie you like a chicken, and use you as my personal **punching bag**." Pit made an almost inaudible squawk of terror. Then Lucario swiftly turned his head toward Link, his eyes glowing like red-hot coals. Link quickly and quietly pinched the side of his mouth, swiped the fingers across his lips like a zipper, and put his hands up in surrender.

"Am I understood?" Lucario hissed at them. Both silently nodded. Lucario swiftly jumped off of Link and Pit and perched on a neat pile of boxes. Pit popped up and started to dust himself off as Link just sat up.

"You know, Lucario," Link said. "I'm pretty sure she knows you like her."

Lucario's fur prickled and stood on end. His expression was a mix of rage, and embarrassment. "How… do you know?" He demanded shyly.

"It's not that hard to see it. I bet Pikachu likes you too."

The pokémon immediately turned red and excitement crept up to join the already jumbled emotions on his face. "She- she- she does?"

"Lucario! Are you blind? It's obvious! Has she not told you?"

"…No…"

"If Pikachu hasn't said anything, then maybe, you need to tell her first-"

"I'M NOT READY!"

Link and Pit blinked at the outburst. Lucario panted, out of breath.

"Ooookay," Pit whispered. "I think you need some fresh, not dusty air."

The three of them carefully made their way out of the storage room and closed the door. Link patted Lucario's shoulder as Pit skipped in front of them. They calmly walked into the main hall where Ness and Lucas were now singing together. Link looked up at the boy's duet. Their melody flowed through the rooms and echoed about the hall. Link smiled at the duo of little singers. Already, a small crowd of people gathered around the boys as if attending a concert. Pit eagerly jumped high and glided to the front of the crowd for the best seat.

'_Zelda loved to sing…' _Link thought to himself._ 'I remember that duet when we were young…' _Link's hand slowly rested on a side pouch hanging low on his belt. Carefully, he felt out the smooth oval shape inside.

"Lucario, how far are they?" Link asked. Lucario closed his eyes in response and his ribbons rose with his concentration.

"They picked up the pace. The primids are halfway through the canyon. They'll be here by the end of tomorrow," the pokémon reported grimly. He opened his eyes and looked up at the Hylian. "What will we do?"

Link smiled. "We still have today… Ness and Lucas have the right idea… I think we can stress later."

Lucario slightly tilted his head.

Link's hand gently grasped the shape in his pocket and pulled it out. With his other hand, he slowly ran his fingers across the holes in the smooth pale blue ceramic. Then he gently rubbed the golden Triforce symbol on the mouthpiece.

"Let's go listen to their song," Link said calmly. Lucario nodded and walked with Link to see the little recital. Already, a couple other people were searching for instruments to join in. Sheik was tapping her foot impatiently as Pit made his way behind Ness and Lucas with the stolen Sheikah's lyre under his arm. Donkey Kong quickly accompanied the boys with his drums. Ness and Lucas started the song's chorus again with perfect harmony, their eyes distant as if the song brought back fond memories. The rest of the crowd wasn't cheering, but silently swaying to the melody of the music.

"_**Take a melody~  
Simple as can be~  
Give it some words and~  
Sweet harmony~  
Raise~ your~ voi~ces~  
All day long now! Love grows strong now!  
Sing a melody~ of~ love~ Oh~ love~"**_

"It's quite a captivating melody," Lucario commented as he also subtly swung with the tempo. "It holds some sort of power over those two. It entrances them. Almost hypnotizes."

"Yeah," Link agreed.

"I can see you holding your ocarina."

"It's been so long since I last played it…"

"Why don't you join them?"

"…Sure…" Link carefully put the mouthpiece of the ocarina to his lips and blew. His fingers moved over the holes, letting only the notes of the melody escape. He walked forward, as he played, to his spot on the stage and the crowd made way for him to pass. The high, heavenly notes flowed with the same spirit of the children's song, now interwoven within the harmonious tapestry. All the ready soldiers forgot their worries and threw their fears upon the flowing river of music to wash away. And they all swayed happily, engulfed by the melody that drowned out the booming thunder of the impending storm.

**(Thank you Silvio Uchimara for the spelling check!  
****So, how was it? Please, leave a review! I really enjoy reading what you think. Thank you for taking the time to read my story. Your support is all the motivation I need!)**


	20. Chapter 14: The War Begins

_**(HEEEELLLLOOOOO EVERYBODYYY! This is Xybur7 [man, that felt good]! It's been TOO long! I'm so sorry! I would bore you people with countless excuses about homework, school, and other stuff BUT I won't 'cause you've probably heard it before.**_

_**This chapter (and the next) took me FOREVER. I found it so difficult for some reason. So, sorry to keep you waiting! Here's Chapter 14!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own ANYTHING but the plot. Any and all characters/places/objects belong to their respective owners.)**_

Chapter 14: The War Begins

The wind howled past the army of heroes as they stormed through the canyon. The sky began to darken to blue behind them and blended with the orange of the approaching dusk. The crimson sun smoldered above the horizon, glistening over a shimmering silver sea of metal primids. Shadows of birds with rainbow razor wings flocked around the tall scythes that sailed alongside the approaching enemies. Link raised one hand and halted the troops part-way through the canyon. From below, he could see a white figure carefully gliding down from the top of the canyon wall. Pit touched down in front of his friends then gently massaged his wings. A blue blur flashed right beside the angel. Sonic jogged in place while spinning two wooden hammers.

"I take it you found the Ice Climbers," Link guessed, not amused.

"Yep." Sonic stood still and dangled the two hammers. "They're up with the flying fire lizard." He started juggling the hammers with one hand.

"Please give them back."

"Aw man." Sonic frowned, flashed away, then flashed back without the hammers.

"Pit, are my bombs set?" Link asked.

"Yeah," Pit answered. "Popo and Nana helped make the crevices to plant them."

"What exactly are we doing, again?" Sonic asked curiously and crossed his arms. Pit proceeded to poke his face with a stick but the blue hedgehog remained relaxed with a little smile.

"We're drastically outnumbered by the Subspace army. So," Link gave a little, nervous smirk. "We're going to tip the odds in our favor. Their army is so big, they have file into the canyon. My plan is to blow up the canyon walls to smother them with the rocks. That way, their forces will have nowhere to run and their numbers will drastically decrease, which will make it a little easier for us."

Sonic finally snatched Pit's poking stick and poked the angel back playfully. "And I'm gonna use this? I can make a spark by just passing by the fuses."

"We can't rely on your friction to make a spark. What if it doesn't work in time? You're going to light your torch with Charizard's tail, then run past all the bombs' fuses. Charizard would be too slow by himself and he can't just use Flamethrower." Link pointed at Sonic then pointed up the left canyon wall. "You'll be on that side, Sonic." Link turned to Pit. "Pit, you're on the other side. Your arrows are made of pure light. That'll be hot enough to light the fuses. You just need to aim right down the middle."

"Aye aye, Captain!" Pit gave a little salute.

Beside the Hylian, Lucario closed his eyes and focused for a brief second. "Link, they're almost here," he warned.

"Thank you for the 'heads up,' Lucario." Link silently gulped then quickly masked his fear with a face of determination. "Sonic. Pit. Positions!" Sonic nodded and zoomed up to the top of the canyon wall. Pit took a deep breath, carefully flapped his slightly glowing wings, and made his way up the other side. Quickly, the green swordsman started to pull out an arrow and a bomb.

Nearby, Marth unsheathed his blade. Among him, the other fighters readied their weapons, some rubbing them with anticipation, others shifting them with anxiety. Out of the corner of his eye as he methodically tied the bomb to the arrow with some rope, Link spotted Lucario looking at Red encouraging the rest of his team, Pikachu being among them. The aura pokémon gave a soft sigh of worry.

"And, Lucario?" Link finished strapping the explosive to the arrow and now readied his bow.

"Uh?" Lucario swiftly turned to Link.

"I bet I've caused you a lot of trouble. I'm so weak, I've needed both Pit **and **you to help me back on my feet. Sorry.

"You're not weak. It's fine."

"… Please, be careful…"

"I appreciate your concern."

"Okay." Link aimed the arrow into the canyon at an angle. '_The Auroros should be flying with their main forces.' _He started reminding himself. Link squinted. _ 'Ugh, the sun's in my eyes. If can time it just right, I can blow up the birds and smother the rest under the rock.'_

The greaps rolled forward, holding their gleaming scythes high above the crowd. The shadows elongated in front of the sun so long that it seemed to pave a dark path to the waiting group of heroes. The flaps of bladed wings grew louder and louder each second. Inhuman screeches and echoes bounced off the canyon walls, calling for blood.

"Here they come…" Lucario warned. Link's hand trembled as he pulled back the taut bowstring. The wall of primids slowly and menacingly advanced. The Auroros' shadows flew closer to fighters' feet.

'_Now!'_

The Hylian archer let his arrow fly. The rainbow-winged birds screeched with fury. The arrow sailed through the air, whizzing past the first bird. The group of Auroros stopped foolishly and watched the arrow fly past the next batch. Link breathed in sharply. _'Did I miss?' _Then the arrow found its mark. The razor-winged birds squawked in terror before being blown by the blast. Suddenly, two blue lights flashed and raced down opposite sides the canyon walls. There was a brief second of silence, and then a series of explosions went off along the top of the towering boundary. The canyon walls burst apart and flooded into the Subspace army. A cloud of dust rose as boulders fell upon the primids, crushing them and reducing them to silver puddles.

"Ready!" Marth called as he raised his sword, ready to signal the charge into battle. The red dust cloud slowly began to settle. Link finally breathed out and drew his sword. Lucario crouched slightly and prepared. Then the first few primids leaped out from the veil of dust.

"Attack!" the Altean prince shouted and slashed downward with his gleaming sword. The group of heroes gave a loud cheer and charged into the dispersing cloud.

/

A supercharged, silver fist clanged off the Hylian's shield. Link grunted as he stumbled back. He quickly regained his balance and with one strong stab, reduced his umpteenth opponent to a puddle. Then, the green warrior suddenly hunched over and struggled to catch his breath.

'_Stamina's… running low…' _Link thought._ 'Don't know how long we can keep this up.'_ Something long and grey flashed at the corner of his eye. Link instinctively raised his shield over his chest and turned just in time block a greap's scythe swing, the force lifting him off his feet. The young Hylian fell and slid backwards, his head hitting the right wall. The sky's colors blurred together as Link's head throbbed. Suddenly, something jabbed his stomach. Link's sharp blue eyes shot open and searched for the new opponent. But nothing loomed over him. Nothing but the plummeting beak of an Auroros.

'_Oh, shoot!'_ Link rolled, narrowly avoiding his future skewered head, got to his feet, and sliced the bird in two. _'So there are still some Auroros left. That's just great.' _Link flipped his sword in his hand with anticipation. The menacing metal primids stepped forward and around him, forming a convenient circle. All at the same time, the enemies leapt for him, arms open, ready to tackle him to the ground. Link quickly balanced on one foot and spun like a top, slicing the primids cleanly into ribbons. Link once again hunched over with fatigue. His eyes scanned the battlefield as he breathed deeply.

Past a multitude of skirmishes, Ike slammed down on a greap's head, swung his greatsword through several primids, and prepared for more. Link couldn't help but watch the broad swordsman. Ike eyed his foes carefully, knees bent, two hands gripping the large blade. Link continued to ignore his surroundings as he studied Ike.

'_Ike…' _Link worried._ 'He's slowing down… something's wrong.' _Slowly, the realization crept upon him. _'Oh… no… Ike's wielding Ragnell with both hands. __**Both **__hands! He can heft it in one! He's running out of steam!'_

Ike slammed down on another primid, then strained to lift his golden sword. One metal primid got behind him and pulled back its fist.

Just as Link was about to shout a warning, Marth flew at the primid and slashed it to pieces with a flurry of strikes. Both young swordsmen gave a sigh in relief and Link refocused on the prince. Marth kept his back close to Ike and constantly had one hand on the fiery emblem on his chest. His pained face was flushed red with exhaustion. Marth's aqua eyes darted from foe to foe until they finally met with Link's.

The prince grimaced and shouted past the thinning forces. "Link! You can't worry about others right now! Focus on yourself!"

Link blinked and snapped out of his worried stare. Marth's eyes drifted above his Hylian friend's head and widened.

"**Link!**"

Link gripped his sword tightly and slashed upwards, knocking two spear-beaked birds out of the sky. _'Marth's right. This is war. I have my own battles to fight here. Focus on myself. Focus on myself. Focus-'_

"EYAAAAH! PUT ME DOWN!"

Link immediately forgot himself and quickly swiveled toward the cry. By the far wall, one metal primid dangled a bruised Lucas upside-down by the foot. The blond child clutched the broken stick that was his weapon and kept trying to pry the primid's hand open.

'_Lucas is in trouble!' _Link shouted in his head, disregarding the action around him.

Then, the primid tried to punch Lucas as it held him. Lucas dropped his shattered stick and blocked the punch with his hands. The boy desperately screamed as he defended himself upside-down from the primid's merciless assault. Link dashed towards them.

"STOP!" Lucas was out of options. "PK-!"

"Lucas!" Link exclaimed.

BAM!

Ness broke the primid's grip with his baseball bat and then shot his energetic yo-yo into the monster's face. Lucas quickly landed on his feet and Ness passed him the baseball bat before resuming the fight. Link bit his lip with worry, then doubled over from an invisible blow to the gut.

'_What? What hit me? I didn't see anything!' _Link squeezed his eyes shut and tried to ignore the chaos around him. Cries of desperation echoed from fighter to fighter. A crack sounded and echoed throughout the canyon. Somewhere, someone screamed out in pain and thudded to the ground.

"That's IT!" someone else bellowed a roar.

Link looked up at the furious Lucario, little sparks of blue fighting against containment.

"I am done holding back against you demons," the pokémon growled. "Feel the wrath of my aura!" Then, fierce aqua fire erupted around Lucario into an enormous blaze.

"Lucario! NO!" Link shouted. _'This is going downhill fast! Lucario's using his last resort! Everyone's tired! No! We can't lose!' _

Lucario dashed into a mob. The first thunderbolt crashed down. Link shielded his eyes from the flash of violet. The light died away and there stood a stone statue of a primid instead of pokémon. Link tried to get up off his knees, about to return to the fight, but then, the Hylian's vision blinked out for a second. Link shook his head quickly. _'What was that?' _

"…_**Cycle…"**_

'_Oh no…'_

Two more lightning strikes flashed in the now fading distance. Bits of white cut into Link's sight as he tried to fight the intruding fog in his mind.

"_**Connection… break… end… cycle…"**_

'_No! No, no, no! Not here! Not now! This is the worst possible time!' _Link squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears but to no avail.

"_**Connection must…"**_

'_Stop!'_

"… _**Break…"**_

'_Shut up!_

"_**End…"**_

'_No!'_

"_**The…"**_

'_Stop it!'_

"_**Cycle…"**_

'_Enough!"_

"_**END."**_

Link's eyes shot open and spotted the rising sickle shadow on the ground stop. Freezing fear twisted his insides with its icy grip. Tears of fright stung at the corners of his widening eyes. He opened his mouth, about to make a silent scream for unattainable help. The air made a quiet whistle. The frightened elfin boy quickly turned his head as the dark scythe began its swift descent.

The whistle quickly grew louder until it became a scream. Out of the corner of his eye, something white and shining shot down from the sky at blinding speed and fury.

BAM! The kick connected with the head with a shock as loud as a sonic boom. The greap spun over and away from Link, slammed into a pile of rocks, then disintegrated. The furious, glowing angel flipped backwards from the kick and landed in a crouch, the sparkles of blue from his wings painting his path before dissipating into the air. A violet lightning bolt struck far away, at the very top of the canyon wall where the protector had been but a few seconds ago. The angel's eyes reflected the dark, churning, stormy sky. But no sooner did Pit meet Link's eyes that the ferocity faded away leaving behind only bright, innocent worry. Link managed a grateful smile before gripping his sword, standing up, and turning toward the enemy with renewed determination. Pit dashed over and spun around toward the enemies on the other side. The pair readied their blades, prepared to protect each other's backs.

"Nice save back there, Pit," Link complemented.

"Heh," Pit gave an embarrassed, modest laugh. "I learned that trick from a friend of mine."

"You know, I was terrified. I thought I was a goner." Link swallowed a bubble of nervous laughter and locked his knees from shaking. "Thank you..."

"Heheheh!" The childish giggles came naturally out of Pit's mouth. Link could imagine the grin he was making. "What would ya do without me? I'm like your guardian angel!"

Link flipped his sword with anticipation as the new circle of foes drew tighter.

'_Guardian angel…' _Link smiled sadly to himself. _How many times have you suffered injuries protecting me, Pit? How many times have you saved me from certain death? If you hadn't been here… I'd be dead a long time ago…' _The Hylian gripped his sword tightly, ready to fight to the end.

"Pit?"

"Eeyup?"

"'_Guardian angel'_ doesn't even begin to cover it."

_**(Sooo, how'd you like it? I know, it's not one my better ones. It was hard to illustrate the chaos of the fighting. Please, leave me a review! I love hearing what you guys have to say: how'd it make you feel, what should I improve on? Your support is all the motivation I need.**_

_**By the way, don't be afraid to point out similarities between what I write and the what happens in the actual games. I've been actually waiting for a "I c wat u did thar" comment for a while. I tend to hide a lot of minute details and quotes and other such trivia in my writing. If you see it, then it's probably there on purpose. I'm just dying to see who can spot them. ;3...)**_


	21. Chapter 15: Ashes to ashes

_**(Hello everyone! This is Xybur7! I am so, so, SO very sorry I've taken so long. I'm not too happy about it myself. I do promise you, whoever is forgiving and patient enough with me, that I WILL finish this story... someday. I don't mean years and I don't intend to drag it out so long but I will eventually get this entire story out and finished, I promise. I definitely do NOT want to let this go. That said, this chapter will probably drive a couple more people crazy/ mad with me and you'll see why soon enough. I'm so sorry to have made you wait, but finally, here's chapter 15.**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own anything but the plot. Any and all characters/places/objects belong to their respective owners.)**_

Chapter 15: Ashes to ashes...

Lucario dashed up to one primid and palmed it hard in the stomach. The primid fell backwards into another one.

"You will not get past me." The pokémon crouched and slowly moved his paws in a fluid, circular motion. Already, a small group of primids gathered near Lucario, about to tackle him head on. Lucario scanned the growing circle of challengers, waiting for their move.

Then, the primid in front of him charged as well as the one behind. The front primid pulled back for a punch. Lucario swiftly ducked and the metal primid's punch sailed overhead into the other primid's face, reducing it to a shiny, silver puddle. Lucario quickly popped up and jump-kicked the standing primid in the chin, knocking it over on its back. The pokémon flipped, landed on the primid's chest, and gave it one good, strong stomp. Small cracks in the ground spread from underneath the primid's body from the force of the stomp and the second primid melted and evaporated away.

Another pair of silver monsters dashed forward. Lucario swiveled around them in a flash and palmed them both to the ground. Lucario's ears twitched. A footstep had sounded directly behind him. The aura pokémon pivoted and caught the primid's fist as another metal primid tried to run up from behind. Lucario tossed the first primid into the air and kicked over his head in an arc, launching the air-born primid higher and slamming the other primid into the other two. Lucario put his paws together and bent his knees to jump. _'EXTREME SPEED!' _ The aura guardian skyrocketed upward, above the weightless, falling primid. Lucario kicked it downward twice in quick succession, shooting the primid into the grounded group of three and destroying them.

"No mercy," the aura guardian said as he landed gently and resumed his martial art stance. The circle of primids didn't move, but hunched over while still facing the pokémon, as if gaping in awe. One metal primid snapped out of its amazement and ambled toward Lucario, fists flailing. Lucario moved his head up, down, and side to side, smoothly dodging the flying punches.

More footsteps sounded behind him: one pair to the right and one to the left. One power-filled fist flew toward the pokémon's face. Lucario suddenly stopped dodging, took one step back, and stood perfectly still. The front primid's punch zoomed forward, then abruptly halted centimeters before the aura pokémon's face. Lucario didn't blink but held his glare at the now slightly confused primid. Two other punches, one on either side, whizzed by from behind, just barely grazing the pokémon's cheeks. Lucario quickly held his paws out to the sides, letting the two primids stab themselves with the paw spikes. The third primid jerked back with shock, then wound up his arm for another go. With full force, the punch flew into Lucario's snout. Blue flashes flickered around the balled, silver fist and the afterimage disappeared. The aura pokémon quickly reappeared behind the primid, palm pulled back. One, two, and one solid kick later, the primid flopped onto the ground and melted away.

"Who do you think I am?!" The steel fighter flicked his wrists at the other foes and stood straight, his chest puffed out with hurt pride. "You insult me by thinking you can fake me out." The pokémon's voice began to rise. "I have inner focus! I am steadfast! I shall not flinch!"

'_No!' _the pokémon's conscious said. _'Show no mercy yet hold back. Remain calm. Don't lose contr-' _

Pain erupted and spread through Lucario's head. The colors of the battlefield blurred together. The pokémon staggered. One primid quickly took the opportunity and swiftly jabbed him in the stomach.

"Why you…" Lucario clamped his jaw and seized the primid's wrist. With new, increased power, the pokémon spun and flipped the primid over his shoulder into the ground, judo-style. The force already made the primid look flat; when it melted, its shape hardly changed.

"Oh no! Squirtle!"

"Hang in there, Squirt!"

Lucario leaped and hopped on the primids' heads and let his eyes immediately scan the crowd for the shouts. In the middle of the narrow canyon, furthest away from the castle, a beaten up Ivysaur strained to push the limp Squirtle, who was knocked on his back, over on his feet. Red stood on a large pile of boulders near the canyon wall, as much of a sideline as he could find. Just barely did he restrain himself from running over and scooping Squirtle out of danger.

'_Squirtle's done.' _Lucario sensed the turtle pokémon's aura was weak and dormant. _'And Ivysaur's close to fainting too… Charizard is locked in aerial combat… I've lost sight of Pikachu amongst the fighting…' _Lucario's gut twisted as he figured out how dangerous the situation would become. _'Red will be unprotected!' _

Red fumbled with his team's pokéballs even as Ivysaur shouted back to him not to pull them back. Then a primid dashed in and kicked the grass-type a couple yards. Ivysaur slid and collapsed, unmoving.

"No more! Squirtle! Ivysaur! Return!" Two red beams shot out from the two pokéballs in each of Red's hands and enveloped the two pokémon, pulling them back to safety. Unfortunately, the primid followed the light to the now defenseless trainer.

'_I have to help him! Now!' _Lucario tried to leap toward them, but finally his foot was caught and yanked back down into restless mob. Lucario quickly kicked his attackers back and searched for a way around.

"EYAAAAH! PUT ME DOWN!"

Lucario stopped and swiveled around. By the other wall, Lucas dangled upside-down from a primid's grip. Desperately, the blond boy jabbed the now broken stick at the primid's hand around his ankle.

'_Lucas?!' _Lucario made sound that was a mixture of a growl and whine. The rising moral dilemma ran through his brain. Lucario looked back towards Red. A couple primids were already cornering him against the opposite wall from Lucas.

Lucas yelled and caught the primid's fist. Amazingly, the boy fended off the flurry of punches, even while immobilized upside-down. Lucario palmed back another enemy but still hesitated to move to one side or the other.

"STOP!" Lucas cried out "PK-!"

'_He's desperate!' _

"Lucas!" Lucario heard Link shout.

BAM!

Ness broke the primid's grip with his baseball bat and then shot his energetic yo-yo into the monster's face. Lucas quickly landed on his feet and Ness passed him the baseball bat before resuming the fight.

Lucario unfroze, free from the indecision, and started to move for the trainer but one primid bypassed his guard and hit him square in the gut. The pokémon felt surging hot energy spread from his stomach and he doubled over.

'_No! I won't reach him!' _Lucario anxiously looked ahead, straight past the approaching enemies at the teenager. The first primid tried to tackle Red, but the teen quickly ducked and elbowed the primid off the little hill. Red hunched over, tired and eyed the next foe. The second one approached him slowly, cautiously, menacingly. Red was cornered, with nowhere to run and no one near to help. The cornered trainer tried to back away, and then the rock he stepped on came loose. Red slipped backwards with a horrified gasp. The primid saw its chance and kicked out. The metal foot connected with Red's shin. A loud crack echoed through the chaos of the canyon. Red screamed out and tumbled backwards behind the rock pile, gripping his leg, and disappearing from Lucario's eyes. The pokémon's heart skipped a beat when he heard the thud from behind the rocks. Blue hot sparks fought for freedom from the pokémon's body.

"That's IT!" Lucario bellowed a roar. For a second, the world stopped. Lucario forgot the risks. He didn't care he was about endanger himself. The only thing flooding his mind was the instinct of a guardian.

"I am done holding back against you demons," the pokémon growled. "Feel the wrath of my aura!" Then, fierce aqua fire erupted around Lucario into an enormous blaze.

"Lucario! NO!" Link shouted from afar.

The sky rumbled as if it was hungry. Lucario barreled into the crowd, intent on pushing through them no matter what. One primid tried to punch him, but miserably failed as the pokémon swiftly dodged and grabbed. A metallic smell rose and Lucario could feel static starting pull at his fur.

'_Here it comes…' _ Lucario tugged the primid with him and swapped places. Then lightning strike came crashing down. Thunder deafened Lucario's pointed ears. He could feel the electricity trying to prick the tips of his paws. The light died away, revealing the primid, stone grey instead of metal silver. Lucario ducked under a punch that continued to sail into the statue. The regular primid crashed into the stone one, and the stone practically shattered to bits.

'_So-! So fragile!' _Somewhere else, remnant thunder vibrated within the ground. Lucario shook his head and refocused. Like an unstoppable, blazing blue cannonball, the pokémon shot through all the enemies. He leaped over the rock pile, flipped, and, along with the forces of aura and gravity, drop-kicked the primid towering over the injured trainer. Red, dusty and bruised, weakly backed up against the wall to sit up, then slumped. Lucario immediately capped his aura and knelt beside the wounded teen.

"Red! Red! Are you alright!" Fear and concern mixed within Lucario's voice. The pokémon struggled to suppress a flashback: the vision of his previous master, collapsed beside a pillar of crystal, dying before him. "Say something!"

Red didn't answer.

"No! Master!"

"…I…"

Lucario's ears perked up with hope.

"… told… you…" Red lifted his head wearily. "….call me… 'Red'…" the trainer finished with a tired smirk.

The aura pokémon smiled with relief, the moment of panic over. But a sense of foreboding took its place. Lucario's smiled formed into a frown as he gave a glance over his shoulder. Some primids had moved around the protruding boulder and approached with caution but malicious intent. Lucario stood and faced the new enemies. He took a few steps forward, then swiftly pummeled the primid's to the ground. From behind, Red made a weak gasp. Lucario quickly doubled back and kicked another primid that was trying to get to Red from above from off the top of the pile.

"Sorry… can't… run…" The trainer breathed out.

"Your leg…" Lucario gently placed his paw on Red's right shin. Red winced and hissed in pain. Lucario quickly pulled his paw back.

"Ah, ah- that hurts…" Red tried not to yell in pain and took some troubled breaths.

"It's broken."

"Damn…"

When Lucario looked up from the leg, he just then noticed how beat up Red was, far too dirty and bruised to only have been in this one scrape. _'Red's been dodging the thick of things as best he could all this time…' _The pokémon realized. _'Squirtle and Ivysaur can't fight anymore and neither can he.' _Bright violet flashed from behind the rock pile, then somewhere in the middle of the canyon. A few more primids moved around the corner. Lucario grimaced and stood protectively over Red. One primid charged. Lucario stepped forward, swept it off its feet, backed up, and force-palmed it into the small group behind it. Heat and pain suddenly flushed from the left side of the pokémon's face, as if he had been punched.

Lucario rubbed his sore left cheek. _'Odd… I know I didn't get hit…' _A metal fist flew for his face. Lucario grunted in surprise and bent backwards, dodging the punch, spun around, then palmed it up and over onto the ground.

"Lucario... Primid!" Red called out in a panic. Another primid got over the pile and hopped down over the rocks and leaped. Red fell on his side and tried to crawl away. Lucario extremesped to the wall, filling his paw with power, rage, and aura. The primid didn't stand a chance. The pokémon caught its head in midair and smashed it against the crumbled wall. Red shielded his head from the shards and splattering silver liquid. Lucario yanked his paw from the new hole in the rock.

"Come on, Master." Lucario quickly scooped Red off the ground and bounced off the wall one second before the lightning strike. In his aura sight, Lucario could spot the few unsteady auras dwindling in number. _'We're winning…' _

"Lu- Lucario… Charizard…" Red huffed out. "…Where's Charizard?"

"Let me look." Lucario landed into the center of the canyon, knelt, and set Red down gently. His focus jumped from aura to aura, searching for the other pokémon. A tired roar boomed in the sky. Lucario and Red looked straight up. The orange dragon was flying overhead, snapping at the last Auroros. The two flew around and over each other, flapping, biting, and pecking fiercely. The Auroros tried to stab Charizard with its beak, but barely missed. Charizard roared and clamped down on the white bird's outstretched neck. Then his wings faltered and Charizard started falling with the fading bird in his mouth.

"No! Charizard!" Red gasped. "Lucario, catch 'em!"

"One: he's a falling 200 pounds plus gravity, and two: I am not dropping you."

Lucario telepathically shouted _**'Sorry!' **_as he jumped out of the way of Charizard's crash landing. Red reached out to his fallen pokémon weakly and Lucario knelt to let him stroke Charizard tenderly. Charizard made a tired sighing sound as he lay on his stomach, his blue wings drooping over his battered body.

"Red's… injured?…" Charizard wheezed. "I'm a… bad pokémon… guardian… letting my trainer… get hurt…"

"It's not your fault," Lucario said to him sorrowfully. _'__**I'm**__ the one who failed. I saw it happen and couldn't do anything.'_

"I'm done…" Charizard admitted. "Can't move… Ivysaur and Squirt?"

"They've been pulled back."

"My turn now… Keep Red safe 'till I get back."

"You have my word."

Charizard gave a little smirk, then conked out. Red returned the pokémon to his pokéball then turned to frown at Lucario.

"You know, I worry about you," he said.

Lucario blinked. "I believe I should be saying that."

"What'd you just promise?"

"To secure your safety."

Red sighed. "That's what I mean. Your number one priority is always to protect someone else. Don't you ever think about yourself?"

Lucario pondered this for a few seconds. "I am a guardian by nature. It is my duty in life to serve and protect others. It's what I feel that I have to do. "

"Duty? Lucario, forget what you have to do. What do you** want **to do?"

Lucario went silent.

"… _Did you ever get to decide how __**you**__ wanted to live?..."_

'_My time in death…'_ Lucario realized as his heart started racing behind the steel thorn in his chest._ 'Why am I remembering it now?' _But the pokémon shook his head clear of the memory. Faint cheers echoed in the distance.

"It's the same thing," Lucario finally answered softly.

Red gave him a sorry smile, as if he felt pity of a sort. "Aaaaand, that's what worries me." Then Red stopped and frowned, confused, and looked around. "What's going on?"

The pair noticed the cheers in the background growing louder. The sun had set but there was still light out. Lucario scanned the crowd with his eyes. Fox and Falco high-fived each other. Kirby was victoriously dancing with King Dedede. Bowser laughed in the air and grabbed Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi into one big hug. The battle was done. Link grinned while rubbing his left cheek. Pit came and slapped him on the back for a job-well-done, so loud that Lucario could feel it. Actually, he **could **feel the smack on his back. But before he could wonder, Pikachu came bounding towards him.

"Lucario! Lucario! We did it! We did it! They're all gone! We won!" she squeaked excitedly. As soon as she saw Red however, scratched and bruised in Lucario's arms, she screeched to a halt, satisfaction turning to sad horror. Red apparently could read the pokémon's expression.

"Hey, Pikachu," the trainer said happily and calmly. "Don't worry. I'm okay. It actually doesn't hurt that much right now." Then Red looked up at Lucario. "Hey, Lucario. I'm starting to get heavy, aren't I?"

"No," Lucario lied politely. He was really tired and everything seemed to be getting heavier. "You can't walk."

"Eh." Red shrugged. "I can hop."

"But-"

"That's a hint. Put me down. I know you want to hold someone else."

'_I must remember: Pit needs to be tenderized later.' _Lucario begrudgingly put the trainer on his one good leg. Red wobbled and Pit and Link rushed over to catch him.

"Hi guys!" Pit piped as he slung Red's arm around his shoulder. "Wow, Red, you look kinda beat. What's up?"

"The sky," Red jokily said and smirked.

"Wha- oh! Up! I get it! Lol!"

Lucario started an annoyed growl until Link patted him gently on the shoulder. "Trust me. If anyone can crack jokes, then they'll be fine." The Hylian carefully smile reassuringly, a big bruise on his left cheek.

Lucario nodded, then looked back down at Pikachu with a secret, sweet smile. Pikachu grinned her cute grin and hopped into his arms. Lucario held her against his chest and over his shoulder. Her scent relaxed his tired muscles and calmed his aura. They softly touched, nose to nose.

"Aaaww."

Lucario and Pikachu peeked to the side. Pit and Red were watching with giddy amusement while Link covered his face with his hand.

"That's so cute!" the two boys exclaimed.

Lucario and Pikachu flushed scarlet and sniffed in embarrassment. Then sniffed again in confusion. Then again with terror. Lucario's fur stood on end, but not from static. The pokémon looked at each other. Pikachu's dark eyes sparked with fear.

"The wind's shifted," she whispered. "It's blowing from the other end…"

"I smell it too." Lucario was afraid to use his aura sight. He didn't want to see. But he had to.

Slowly, Lucario closed his eyes, the ribbons on the back of his head rising with his focus. Not far off and swiftly approaching, was a whole other unsteady army of thousands. Lucario's eyes shot open as he gasped. _'The sheer magnitude!... We can't handle that! Not after we just fought!'_

"Lucario? What's wrong?" Link asked.

"There's too much," Lucario breathed hoarsely.

"Wha-?"

"Order a retreat."

"Guys…" Pit tried to break in.

"Retreat? Why?"

"Because there's more!"

"What!? How much m-!"

"Guyyyyyyys!" Pit's voice rose with panic.

Link and Lucario turned to the angel, then followed his pointing finger down the canyon. In the dark distance, a thick line of faint silver shimmered in the fading light. It grew bigger and bigger quicker and quicker until, like a wave of terror, it flooded towards them until it engulfed the dim horizon.

_**(How'd you like it? Please, leave me a review! If I happened to make a spelling/grammar mistake, inform me of that too so I can fix it. I really do look forward to all of your comments and appreciate the complements. Thanks so much. I'll try to get 16 done soon. It will come, I promise.**_

_**Thanks for putting up with me. Your support is all the motivation I need.)**_


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